French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday demanded the "immediate" release of researcher Fariba Adelkhah, detained for a year in Tehran and "hostage" to the Iranian regime, according to Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi. “A year ago, Fariba Adelkhah was arbitrarily arrested in Iran. It is unacceptable that she is still in prison, "said the President of the Republic on Twitter.
"My message to the Iranian authorities: justice requires that our compatriot be immediately released," he insisted. “Fariba Adelkhah is a hostage from the Iranian government. She did not commit any crime, "added Iranian lawyer and 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi in a video.
His companion was released to him last March
The Franco-Iranian anthropologist, specialist in Shi'ism and post-revolutionary Iran at Sciences Po Paris, was arrested on June 5, 2019 in Tehran at the same time as his companion Roland Marchal, a renowned specialist in Africa who came to him. to visit. If the latter was released in March, the researcher, born in Iran in 1959 and living in France since 1977, was sentenced on May 16 to five years in prison for "collusion with a view to attacking national security".
Fariba's detention "substantially reduces the trust between our two countries," warned French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. " What can we do ? Pressure! He conceded in late May, admitting that the situation was complicated. Paris also requires consular access to the researcher, categorically refused from the start by the Iranian authorities who do not recognize dual nationality. She is now awaiting a court decision on appeal or a hypothetical pardon from supreme guide Ali Khamenei. But his hopes for an early release are slim.
World
Iran: Five-year prison sentence for Franco-Iranian researcher Fariba Adelkhah
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Iran: Liberated by Tehran, researcher Roland Marchal returned to France
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