Branch 7 of the Court of Appeals of Khorasan Razavi Province upheld the sentence of French Tourist Benjamin Briere. Initially, Briere was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the prison sentence against Benjamin Briere was upheld on appeal.
Confirming this sentence in an interview with HRANA, Briere’s lawyer, Saeed Dehghan commented that in this verdict, France was considered hostile to Iran and statements such as expressing condolences to the families of the victims of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, which was shot down by the IRGC, was presented as evidence for this conviction. Also, Briere’s information technology background and the possession of more than one hard drive and cell phone were considered by the court as evidence for the conviction.
In January of last year, Branch 4 of the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad sentenced Briere to eight years and eight months in prison on the charges of “espionage” and “propaganda against the regime”. Two other charges of “spreading corruption on earth” and “drinking alcohol” were dismissed by the court.
In May 2020, Briere was arrested by security forces and has since been kept in Vakilabad Prison. He has been in pre-trial detention for more than 600 days.
