Detained in Iran, researcher Fariba Adelkhah ends hunger strike

Text by: RFI Follow

Franco-Iranian researcher Fariba Adelkhah, detained since June in Iran, ended on Wednesday February 12 the hunger strike she had been observing since December 24 to protest against her imprisonment.

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" Ms. Adelkhah responded to a written request from political and civil society activists, and ended her hunger strike at noon today, " said her lawyer, Said Dehghan. The researcher's support committee recently deemed her state of health " alarming " and called on her to end the hunger strike.

Fariba Adelkhah, Franco-Iranian anthropologist, and his companion Roland Marchal, specialist in the Horn of Africa, who had come to join her for a private visit, were arrested by the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the regime, June 5, 2019 at Tehran Airport.

They have since been prosecuted for threats to " national security " and " propaganda " against the regime, charges fabricated according to their support committee. Their trial could open soon in Tehran.

Detained in Evin prison in Tehran, Ms. Adelkhah had started a hunger strike on December 24 to demand their release " and more generally respect for academic freedom ", according to this committee.

Many supporters in France

A silent march was organized yesterday, Tuesday February 11, in Paris, at the Trocadero on the initiative of the support committee for the two researchers, which demands their immediate and unconditional release.

For Béatrice Hibou, one of their friends and colleagues, these detentions are completely arbitrary: " They are a bargaining chip, pawns, hostages in international negotiations and in extremely tense power struggles between Iran and the countries Western. Today, what we are asking for is their liberation and respect for scientific freedom. "

On December 10, French President Emmanuel Macron demanded the " immediate " release of the two French researchers, denouncing an " intolerable " situation. The French Foreign Ministry also announced that it had summoned the Iranian ambassador to Paris on Friday (December 27th) to denounce " the intolerable imprisonment " for more than six months of two French academics, one of whom went on hunger strike.

The trial of Fariba Adelkah and Roland Marchal should take place in March, before the festivities in Norouz. About fifteen Western academics are detained in Iranian jails.

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