Jailed French Tourist Benjamin Briere Summoned to Appear in Court After 600 Days in Jail

Jailed French Tourist Benjamin Briere Summoned to Appear at Court After Six hundred Days in Jail

On January 20, the trial of jailed French tourist Benjamin Briere will be held for the first time after 600 days in jail awaiting legal proceedings.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Briere is French citizen who has been jailed in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad City.

His lawyer, Saeed Dehghan, confirmed that the court session will be held and that his client will defend himself in court against the charges of “spying” and “propaganda against the regime”. Two other charges of “spreading corruption on earth” and “alcohol drinking” have already been dismissed by the court.

In May 2020, Briere was arrested by security forces and has since been jailed in Vakilabad Prison.

According to Dehghan, these charges were based on actions such as taking aerial photos with a remote-controlled helicam and posing questions like “why is the veil (Hijab) forced in Iran but not other Islamic countries”.

“Despite so many ambiguities and contradictions in this case, as his lawyer, I have been denied any access to the documents, which is disastrous,” Dehghan told HRANA.

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