French tourist prosecuted in Iran for espionage after drone flight

Iran is prosecuting a 35-year-old French tourist Benjamin Briere on suspicion of espionage and anti-Iranian propaganda. His lawyer informed the Reuters news agency. Briere was arrested ten months ago for flying his drone over the desert area on the border with neighboring Turkmenistan and taking photos.

According to his lawyer, Briere’s prosecution is also linked to a message on social media in which he wrote that Iran has made wearing a headscarf mandatory. Iran calls that propaganda.

France has not yet responded to the charges against Briere, but confirms that a French citizen is being held in Iran. His lawyer says the tourist had contacted the French embassy from the prison in Mashad. Briere is in good health.

The lawyer fears that Briere is facing a long prison sentence. “My colleagues and I believe the charges are unfounded and false, but we have to wait until the investigation is completed and the judge announces his verdict.”

Briere worked in the events industry before his arrest and drove a van from France to Iran ten months ago, a friend of the Frenchman tells news agency Reuters.

Increased tensions

The charge against the French comes at a time when the United States and European countries, including France, are trying to restore the nuclear pact. Under former president Trump, the US withdrew from this. US President Biden has offered to rejoin European countries and revive the accord, but Tehran says Washington must first lift sanctions imposed by Trump in 2018.

Rights activists accuse Iran of arresting dual citizens and foreigners in order to exert political pressure on these countries. Becomes Iranian-British Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe currently also prosecuted for propaganda. She is said to have been guilty of this during a demonstration in front of the Iranian embassy in London in 2009.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe had already been convicted in 2016 for encouraging protests against the Iranian regime. After she was released early this month, she was again subpoenaed on a new charge. While awaiting trial, she is not allowed to leave the country and has not yet recovered her British passport.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband says his wife is being used as a “bargaining chip”. Tehran denies detaining people for political reasons and has accused many foreigners in its prisons of espionage.

–