Frenchman Benjamin Brière Begins Hunger Strike in Iran Prison Over Detention Conditions

Benjamin Brière, a 36-year-old Frenchman imprisoned in an Iranian prison for more than a year and a half, began a hunger strike on Saturday, December 25, to protest his detention conditions and denounce the "abuses he has endured for twenty months," his sister Blandine explained.

“The undersigned – lawyers, members of the legal professions, and public figures, whether of Iranian nationality or origin, or of any other nationality – submit, with urgency and deep concern, this appeal on behalf of those who, in Iran, are silenced”

L'Express

Brière was arrested in May 2020 while traveling across Iran as a tourist during a long trip in a converted van begun in 2018, and he is accused of 'espionage' after taking 'photographs of restricted areas' with a recreational drone in a natural park in Iran, according to his lawyer.

L'Express

Detained in Valikabad Prison in Mashhad in northeastern Iran, Blandine said: "Benjamin began the hunger strike because he was not allowed to call us for the Christmas holidays," and she added that he sees no progress in his situation.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday, December 27 that it is following his case with 'the utmost attention' and has 'regular contacts' with him under consular protection, and it said he received another consular visit on Tuesday, December 21.

The article also notes that espionage carries the death penalty in Iran and that the Frenchman is the only known Western detainee in Iran who does not hold an Iranian passport, while the Ministry cites consular protection under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention of 24 April 1963.

France filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice against Tehran to pressure Iran to release two detained French citizens, with Jean-Noël Barou saying France accuses Iran of 'breach of its obligation to provide consular protection.'

Barou said the two French citizens 'have been taken hostage and imprisoned in horrific conditions that amount to torture,' and the article identifies Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris as the only two European citizens still imprisoned in Iran.

lanouvellerepublique.fr

Christophe Le Moine, spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry, said on Thursday at a press conference: 'France will continue to pressure Iranian authorities until our two compatriots are freed. Their release is a national priority.'

The complaint was filed as Iranian negotiators were set to meet on Friday in Turkey with their British, French, and German counterparts to discuss Iran's nuclear program, and the article says Paris has sharpened its tone toward Iran due to the Islamic Republic's nuclear program and the detention of European citizens.

The article adds that cases at the ICJ can take years and that the parties can request provisional measures to ensure the situation does not deteriorate while the case is before the Court.

Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian woman who was illegally detained by the French government for 237 days, announced legal action against Paris over its "political hostage-taking," and she told reporters in Kermanshah province that she spent 235 of those days in solitary confinement.

“Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian woman who was illegally detained by the French government for 237 days, has announced legal action against Paris over its “political hostage-taking”

PressTV

Esfandiari said: "We are in the process of filing an official complaint against the French government to prove this political hostage-taking," and she added that she wants to "proclaim the righteousness of the Axis of Resistance" in international forums.

In another passage, she said: "I was held captive for 237 days, 235 of which were in solitary confinement," and she described maintaining her hijab as one of her main challenges during the detention.

The article also reports that Esfandiari said her only crime was telling the truth, and she argued: "Western media present news in a highly biased and distorted manner."

Finally, it states that Esfandiari revealed France kept her under house arrest on the pretext of "threats to French security," and she said: "The truth was exposed when my release coincided with the release of two French spies."