Benjamin Breyer to be tried in Revolutionary Court one year after his arrest on Thursday
Benjamin Brier, a French tourist who has been detained by Islamic Republic agents for over a year, is scheduled to be tried in the Revolutionary Court on Thursday, January 20, on charges of "espionage."
Saeed Dehghan, one of Benjamin Breyer's lawyers, announced the news to Reuters on Wednesday, January 19, saying that "Benjamin will appear in court for trial on charges of espionage and acting against national security."
Benjamin Brier, 36, who traveled to Iran in a van in May 2020, was arrested after he flew a “drone” in the plains near the Iran-Turkmenistan border. The Iranian judiciary has accused him of espionage for taking photographs in prohibited areas.
Saeed Dehghan, Mr. Brier's lawyer, announced on Twitter on January 26 that his client had gone on a hunger strike in Mashhad Prison after being denied contact with his family on Christmas.
Mr. Dehghan continued his tweet by asking: “What is the Mashhad Revolutionary Court waiting for to hear the political charges against Benjamin Brier, who has now been in detention for 570 days!?”
Benjamin Breyer is the only foreign prisoner whose imprisonment has been publicly confirmed by Iran and who does not have dual citizenship.
In a separate case, France last week called on Iran to release Fariba Adelkhah, a French-Iranian academic whom Tehran sentenced to five years in prison in 2020 on security charges.
Iran's judiciary announced last week that Ms. Adelkhah had been imprisoned again for violating the terms of her house arrest.
The trial of Benjamin Breyer and the return of Fariba Adelkhah to prison are taking place at a time when France, along with several other countries that are parties to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, are trying to revive the agreement with Iran.
In response to Mr. Brier's arrest, the French Foreign Ministry denied the charges against him, saying that the French citizen had traveled to Iran for vacation and knew nothing about the charges.
Blandine Brier, the sister of the French tourist, had previously denied the accusations against her brother in an interview with the Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper, saying: "He was an ordinary French tourist who bought a tourist drone from a supermarket."
Ms. Breyer previously said about her brother's contact status that he only gets to speak to his family every few weeks and "fights" for the right to speak to his family every day.
In recent years, the Iranian government has arrested a large number of foreign citizens and dual-national Iranians on various charges, including "espionage, collaboration with foreign security agencies, or acts against the regime," and some of these individuals have been exchanged with Iranian prisoners in other countries.
This practice of the Islamic Republic has been repeatedly condemned by governments and human rights organizations around the world and described as "hostage-taking."
Source: Radio Farda
