PARIS (Reuters) – Benjamin Brire, a French tourist incarcerated in Iran since the spring of 2020 on charges of espionage, has started a hunger strike, his lawyer and sister announced in a statement on Monday.
The French authorities maintain regular contacts with him and he was contacted on Monday by the Thran embassy, declared the deputy spokesperson for the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Benjamin Brire was arrested in May 2020 after having flown a recreational drone in a desert area near the border between Iran and Tajikistan. He is accused of espionage and propaganda against the Islamic Republic.
“The feeling of helplessness – and dismay – of Benjamin Brire has just led him to start a hunger strike, in order to alert the Iranian authorities – and the French authorities – to the absurdity of his detention”, declared his sister and his lawyer in a press release.
(Mimosa Spencer report, French version Marc Angrand)