Iran's Judiciary on Fariba Adelkhah's Return to Prison: France Should Not Intervene

The Deputy Chief of the Iranian Judiciary announced the return of Fariba Adelkhah, an Iranian-French citizen, to prison for "violating the restrictions set during house arrest," and also reacted to the recent statement by the French Foreign Ministry on this matter.

On Sunday, January 16, Kazem Gharibabadi, Deputy Minister of International Affairs of the Judiciary, called Ms. Adelkhah a "citizen of the Islamic Republic of Iran" and said that "her charges have been investigated through an independent judicial process in a competent court."

Mr. Gharibabadi went on to state that the reason for Ms. Adelkhah's return to prison was "violation of the restrictions set for house arrest," and said that this prisoner, who is serving her sentence at home with an electronic tracker, "has knowingly violated the set limits dozens of times and, despite warnings from judicial authorities, has insisted on doing so, and has been returned to prison for violating regulations and abusing the situation."

Fariba Adelkhah Mehr was transferred home last year with an electronic monitor and bail to continue her prison term, but was returned to Evin Prison on January 12 of this year.

Hours after this incident, the French Foreign Ministry issued a statement announcing that Ms. Adelkhah's return had taken place "without any justification" or "prior notice" and called for the immediate release of this dual-national prisoner.

On Sunday, Kazem Gharibabadi condemned the recent statement by the French Foreign Ministry on this matter, calling it "interference by another country in the country's judicial process."

Fariba Adelkhah, a researcher at the Paris Center for Political Science Studies, was arrested in June 2019 by the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence forces at her home on charges of “espionage” after returning to Iran. In May 2020, she was sentenced to six years in prison by the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati, on charges such as “gathering and colluding with the intention of acting against national security” and “propaganda against the system.” This sentence was commuted to five years by the Tehran Provincial Court of Appeal.

Human rights groups accuse the Iranian government of using the detention of dual citizens as a tool to gain concessions in economic and diplomatic dealings with Western countries, accusations that the Islamic Republic consistently denies.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials have repeatedly stated that the Islamic Republic does not accept "dual citizenship" for Iranian citizens, and accordingly, they deny the existence of dual-nationality prisoners in Iran.

Source: Radio Farda