Iran: French visitors invited to leave the country “as soon as possible” – franceinfo

In an update of travel advice on its site on Friday, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned of the situation there, citing the high risk of “arrest, arbitrary detention and unfair trial.” Article written by Published on 07/10/2022 23:55 Updated on 07/10/2022 23:57 Reading time: 1 min. French people “passing through Iran are invited to leave the country as soon as possible given the risks of arbitrary detention to which they expose themselves”, alerted the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday, October 7 in an update of advice. to travelers on its site. “Any French visitor, including binationals, is exposed to a high risk of arrest, arbitrary detention and unfair trial”, added the ministry, specifying that “this risk also concerns people making a simple tourist visit”, and that “in the event of arrest or detention, respect for fundamental rights and personal security are not guaranteed”. On Thursday, Iranian state television broadcast what it presented as “confessions” of espionage by two Frenchmen arrested in May and accused of “breaching security”. In the trailer of a documentary, we saw a woman speaking French, who claimed to be called Cécile Kohler and to be an operational intelligence officer at the DGSE, the French foreign intelligence service. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was quick to react, deploring “a staging unworthy, revolting, unacceptable and contrary to international law”. The day after the broadcast of this video, the families of the French couple warned on Friday of “inhuman conditions of detention (…) for fallacious reasons”, with “unimaginable psychological pressure”. “We are devastated, exhausted and terrified”, write in a press release sent to AFP the families of Jacques Paris and Cécile Kohler, claiming to be “without any news” from their loved ones, and fearing that they will be “kept at home”. isolation with the only human contact being that of their jailers and interrogators”. The couple are “deprived of lawyers and consular access is constantly denied to them”, also specifies the press release. Share: Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share by email Share link