Iran judges French tourist detained since May 2020 for "espionage"
The entrance to Mashhad prison, in Iran, where Benjamin Brière has been detained since May 2020 © DR
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Detained since May 2020, Benjamin Brière is currently on trial in Iran on charges of "espionage", lawyer Saïd Dehghan revealed on Monday (March 15), who believes that his trial would be nearing its end.
Coming as a tourist, the Frenchman is being held in Vakilabad prison in the city of Machhad, in northeastern Iran, and has also been accused of "propaganda against the system".
Publicity
Read more
With our correspondent in Tehran,
Siavosh Ghazi
The
French national
was accused by the Revolutionary Court of "
espionage
" and "
propaganda
" against the regime of the Islamic Republic.
He is accused in particular of having taken photos and videos of military zones.
He was traveling in Iran in his camper van and was arrested not far from Mashhad, in the northeast of the country.
Along the road between Tehran and this city, there are several important military bases, including ballistic missile sites.
It is not yet known whether he has indeed visited these sites to take pictures.
The French are also accused of having questioned the compulsory wearing of the Islamic veil in his posts on social networks.
This trial comes as Iran
detains Franco-Iranian researcher Fariba Adelkhah
, sentenced to five years in prison for "
action against national security
" and "
propaganda
" against the regime.
In recent years, Iran has carried out several exchanges of foreign prisoners or binationals with Iranian nationals detained in particular in France, Australia and the United States.
This was the case
for French researcher Roland Marchal
, arrested at the same time as Fariba Adelkhah, and who was
released in March 2020
against the release of an Iranian engineer detained in France.
►
To read also:
Iran: Iranian-British Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe appears again
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Iran
Justice
France
Diplomacy
On the same subject
Iran: British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe appears again
Iran condemns the "sabotage" of its ship in the Mediterranean by an "explosive"
Iran: Iranian-British Nazanin Zagheri-Ratcliffe is free