Benjamin Brière, French Tourist Imprisoned, Ends His Hunger Strike
Benjamin Brière, a French tourist imprisoned in Vakil Abad Prison in Mashhad, ended his hunger strike following requests from his family and lawyers. Mr. Brière had begun his hunger strike in early December of this year.
According to Hrana news agency, the news organ of the human rights activists group in Iran, Benjamin Brière, a French tourist imprisoned in Vakil Abad Prison, has ended his hunger strike.
Mr. Brière’s hunger strike ended following requests from his family and lawyers based on concerns about his physical condition. According to Saeed Dehghan, the lawyer defending this prisoner, after 35 days of hunger strike, he has lost 13 kilograms in weight.
Benjamin Brière began his hunger strike in early December 1400 in protest against being denied the right to make phone calls and communicate with his family on Christmas Eve.
He was sentenced to 8 years in prison by Branch 4 of the Mashhad Revolution Court in mid-winter this year on charges of “propaganda against the system and espionage.” The court session hearing the charges against this French tourist took place on Thursday, the 30th of Dey month, after 600 days from the time of his arrest.
Saeid Dehghan, Mr. Brière’s defending lawyer, had previously written about the details of his court session on his personal Twitter page: “1- Before the session began, they changed the court branch from three to four. 2- The court was not “open,” but they brought cameras for filming and photography. 3- The position of the new judge was clear from this very first court session. 4- By using the word exchange, they made the task clear as well!”
Previously, a decision to drop prosecution had been issued for this French tourist regarding two charges of corruption on earth and drinking alcohol.
Benjamin Brière’s final defense session was held in Esfand of last year. According to Saeid Dehghan, a lawyer, the reason for the espionage charge was photographing restricted areas, and the reason for the charge of propaganda against the system was raising the question on social networks: “Why is the hijab mandatory in the Islamic Republic but optional in other Islamic countries?”.
This French citizen was arrested by security forces in early Khordad of last year.
Saeid Dehghan, a lawyer, had previously told Hrana in this regard: “Despite ambiguities and contradictions in his charges, access to his file has not been granted so far, and alongside the family’s concern about his condition in Vakil Abad Prison in Mashhad, the lawyers’ lack of access to his file is a catastrophe.”
Previously, on 1 Esfand 99, the French newspaper Le Figaro reported the arrest of a dual Iranian-French national and a German citizen in Iran, and added that the French national was arrested while using a small drone in Iran’s deserts.
Dehghan also told Hrana’s reporter in this regard: “The published news based on the report that Le Figaro published in France was made with the common interpretation of the word ‘Drone’ as a UAV, while this person as a tourist carried an ordinary ‘heli-cam’ for photography. The use of this word by Le Figaro caused this misinterpretation by some media outlets. Also, in this newspaper’s report, this citizen was referred to as a French-Iranian citizen, whereas Benjamin is a French citizen.”
Source: Hrana
