Fariba Adelkhah, a scholar with both French and Iranian background, has come back to France. She was held in Iran for four and a half years. This situation caused more problems between France and Iran.
Fariba Adelkhah was taken into custody in June 2019 and was found guilty of serious charges related to Iran’s national security. Many of her supporters thought these charges were unreasonable.
Although she was let out of prison in February, she couldn’t leave Iran. Fariba Adelkhah, a well-known researcher in Iranian Shiite religion and politics, arrived in Paris on Tuesday. Her workplace, Sciences Po University, had formed a group to help secure her release.
The university’s director, Mathias Vicherat, expressed his feelings, saying, “After so many years of not being free, it’s a very emotional moment to finally welcome back our colleague Fariba. She’s a symbol of our fight for academic freedom.
Adelkhah was one of about twenty other foreigners kept in custody by Iran. Activists and Western governments believe this was a deliberate tactic to use them as bargaining chips for gaining advantages from the West.
In recent times, some of these foreign detainees have been released. This includes five Americans who were set free in a complex deal involving billions of dollars of Iranian funds that were previously frozen in a South Korean account.
In May, Iran released French prisoners Benjamin Brière and Bernard Phelan. Bernard Phelan was also an Irish citizen, and both of them had their health deteriorate due to hunger strikes.
However, roughly twelve foreign individuals are still being held by Iran. Among them are four French citizens: a teacher named Cécile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris, Louis Arnaud (who is described by his family as an innocent traveler), and a man known only as Olivier.
Innocent traveller
In a call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at the weekend to discuss the current conflict between Hamas and Israel, French President Emmanuel Macron “reiterated his deep concern” over the detainees and requested their immediate release, his office said in a statement.
Adelkhah, in a message conveyed by her supporters, expressed, “I remember the women I was in prison with at Evin in Tehran, and also my fellow French citizens, Cécile, Jacques, Louis, and Olivier, who are still not free.
In June 2019, she was arrested along with her French colleague and partner Roland Marchal.
Marchal was let go in March 2020, seemingly in exchange for the release of an Iranian engineer, Jallal Rohollahnejad. He was facing extradition to the United States for allegedly violating US sanctions against Iran.
Adelkhah received a five-year prison sentence in May 2020 for being part of a plot against national security.
Starting from October 2020, she was allowed to stay at her home in Tehran but had to wear an electronic tracking device. However, in January 2022, she was sent back to jail.
SOURCE:FRANCE24