APPEAL – Detained for a year and a half in Iran, Frenchman Benjamin Brière has started a hunger strike to protest against his conditions of detention. His sister, Blandine, confides her concern in front of the cameras of the 20H of TF1, her brother risking the death penalty.
LCI editorial staff | Video report A. Basar, C. Gerbelot –
Blandine Brière has not seen her brother for over a year and a half. In May 2020, Frenchman Benjamin Brière was arrested by Iranian authorities in the north of the country. He is accused of espionage for having taken “photographs of prohibited areas” with a recreational drone in a natural park, while the adventurer claims that he was on a tourist trip.
He is also accused of propaganda facts because he posted a photo on his Instagram account evoking the obligation to wear the veil in Iran. “These are accusations which are baseless, which are completely incomprehensible. We are simply talking about a tourist, who is obviously not a spy or an agent of any intelligence”, takes offense at his sister Blandine in the TF1 20H video at the top of this article.
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His concern is all the greater since espionage is punishable by death in this country. Since December 25, the French have been on a hunger strike to denounce his conditions of imprisonment. “There are about twenty or even thirty in a cell where suddenly there is no privacy, etc. Some of his fellow prisoners are also condemned to death, so there is a very difficult atmosphere to live with”, explains Blandine Brière.
Detained in Valikabad prison, in Mashhad, in northeastern Iran, Benjamin Brière has always defended himself from being a simple tourist. “On Iranian territory, freedom of expression is not quite the same as with us. We have absolutely no prospect of indictment, trial, guarantee of the right of defense, exercise law”, underlines Philippe Valent, lawyer for Benjamin Brière.
The fate of the French should be decided by the Revolutionary Tribunal in Iran. His family appealed to the President of the Republic. On Monday, the French Foreign Ministry said it was monitoring his case with “the greatest attention” and have “regular contacts” with him under consular protection.
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- Accused of “espionage”, Frenchman detained in Iran goes on hunger strike
- Iran: soon tried for “espionage”, the French Benjamin Brière risks the death penalty
“He benefited from another consular visit on Tuesday, December 21 and was contacted by our embassy today”, added the deputy spokesperson of the Quai d’Orsay during an electronic press briefing.
More than a dozen Western passport holders, mostly dual nationals, are detained in Iran to date. A situation that NGOs qualify as a hostage-taking policy intended to obtain concessions from foreign powers. However, Benjamin Brière is the only known Westerner detained in Iran who does not have an Iranian passport.
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