Benjamin Brière to Stand Trial at Revolutionary Court a Year After Thursday Arrest

Benjamin Brière, a French tourist who has been detained by Islamic Republic authorities for over a year, is scheduled to stand trial on Thursday, December 20th at the Revolutionary Court on charges of “espionage.”

Saeid Dehghan, one of Benjamin Brière’s lawyers, announced the news to Reuters on Wednesday, December 19th, stating that “Benjamin will appear in court to face charges of espionage and action against national security.”

The 36-year-old Brière, who traveled to Iran in May 2020 in a van, was detained after he flew “a drone” in fields near the Iran-Turkmenistan border. Iran’s judiciary has accused him of espionage for photographing restricted areas.

Saeid Dehghan, Brière’s lawyer, announced on December 6th in a tweet that his client had begun a hunger strike in Mashhad prison after being deprived of contact with his family on the occasion of Christmas.

Dehghan further tweeted: “What is Mashhad’s Revolutionary Court waiting for to address the political charges against Benjamin Brière, who has now been in detention for 570 days!?”

Benjamin Brière is the only foreign detainee whose imprisonment has been publicly acknowledged by Iran and who does not hold dual citizenship.

In a separate case, France last week asked Iran to release Fariba Adelkhah, a French-Iranian academic whom Tehran sentenced in 2020 to five years in prison on security charges.

Iran’s Judiciary announced last week that Ms. Adelkhah has again been imprisoned for violating the conditions of her house arrest.

Brière’s trial and Adelkhah’s return to prison come as France, along with several other parties to the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, is seeking to revive the accord.

The French Foreign Ministry rejected the charges against Brière and stated that the French citizen had traveled to Iran to spend his vacation and had no knowledge of these allegations.

Blandine Brière, the French tourist’s sister, previously told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper, denying the charges against her brother: “He was a regular French tourist who had bought a tourist drone from a supermarket.”

Ms. Brière previously said regarding her brother’s contact situation that he is able to speak with his family once every few weeks and fights every day for the right to speak with his family.

In recent years, the Iranian government has detained numerous foreign citizens and dual-nationality Iranians on various charges including “espionage, cooperation with foreign security agencies, and action against the system.” Some of these individuals have been exchanged with Iranian prisoners in other countries.

This practice of the Islamic Republic has repeatedly been condemned by governments and human rights organizations around the world and has been described as “hostage-taking.”

Source: Radio Farda