despite his acquittal, Frenchman Benjamin Brière is still imprisoned, according to his lawyer

Benjamin Brière has been detained in Iran since May 2020. The Frenchman, sentenced to eight years in prison for espionage, was “acquitted of all charges” on appeal on February 15. But this 36-year-old young man is still imprisoned on Thursday March 2, as his lawyer and his family have informed. The latter denounce a “totally grotesque situation”.

After the verdict, the Iranian justice had nevertheless ordered “his immediate release” but the Frenchman, on hunger strike since January 28, “was not released by the Revolutionary Guards who keep him imprisoned”assures his lawyer, Philippe Valent, questioned by AFP. “At the last moment, he was blocked in extremis” and remains incarcerated in Vakilabad prison in Mashad, in the northeast of the country, explained his counsel, who denounces “incredible psychological violence” towards Benjamin Brière and his family.

“We demand respect by the Iranian regime for the court decisions.”

Philippe Valent, lawyer for Benjamin Brière

at AFP

“We are in total incomprehension”for her part, told AFP Blandine Brière, the sister of the prisoner, who was able to speak to him last Sunday. “He is on an emotional elevator”she said, explaining that the family had not made the court decision public in the hope that the situation would unblock.

Benjamin Brière, who always presented himself as a tourist, was arrested in May 2020 for taking “photographs of prohibited areas” with a leisure drone in a natural park. In total, six French people are detained in Iran. France has been denouncing for months a “hostage diplomacy” led by the Iranian regime. Researcher Fariba Adelkhah was released on February 10.