French nationals Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who have been detained by Iran for more than three years, have been charged with “spying for Israel”, according to their relatives and diplomatic sources.
On Wednesday, Noémie Kohler, Cécile’s sister, announced that an Iranian judge had handed the couple three charges which included “spying for the Mossad”, “conspiracy to overthrow the regime” and “corruption on land.”
The couple’s families maintain that Kohler and Paris were on a tourist trip when they were arrested in May 2022. More than three years on, the couple remain unable to access independent legal advice.
As it stands, Tehran has not confirmed the charges, which are punishable by the death penalty in the country. Meanwhile, a French diplomatic source told Radio France that “if confirmed”, the charges were “totally unfounded.”
Although the pair — a 40-year-old literature teacher and her retired 72-year-old partner, who was formerly a maths teacher — have been accused of espionage since their arrest in May 2022, Iranian authorities had previously not specified which country the couple was allegedly spying for.
For months the couple have been living in a heightened state of “psychological torture”, according to Noémie Kohler, who stated that since December, Iranian authorities have been warning Cécile and Jacques of an “extremely severe and imminent” verdict coming their way.
The past week has proved particularly challenging for Cécile and Jacques’ relatives, in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on the Evin prison — which was where the couple was detained — killing 71 people according to Iranian authorities.
Following the strike, Iranian authorities announced that a number of prisoners would be transferred to other penitentiary sites. However, Cécile and Jacques’ families did not know if the pair were among those transferred.
However, on Tuesday — eight days after the Israeli strike — France’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot announced that a diplomat had been able to visit Cécile and Jacques, in a bid to obtain proof that they were alive.
Despite this, the French foreign ministry did not specify where the visit took place, leaving the couple’s whereabouts unclear.
On 16 May, the French government lodged an application against Iran with the International Court of Justice, qualifying Cécile and Jacques as “state hostages” and accusing Iran of violating the right to consular protection enshrined in the Vienna Convention.
The French government has repeatedly called for the release of Cécile and Jacques. Days before Israel’s strike on the Evin prison, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that he had called for the couple’s release during an exchange with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian.
In the post shared on 21 June, Macron wrote, “Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris must be released. Their inhumane detention is unjust. I expect them to return to France.”
According to estimates from NGO Hostage Aid Worldwide, around 15 Europeans and dual nationals from Sweden, France, Switzerland, Cyprus, Germany and the UK are imprisoned in Iran.
Human rights groups accuse Tehran of practising a policy of hostage diplomacy, using Europeans and dual nationals as “bargaining chips” to facilitate its negotiations with the West.
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