Benjamin Brière, (born 1985 or 1986[1]), is a French traveller and blogger who was arrested by the Iranian authorities in May 2020 after flying a drone near the border of Iran with Turkmenistan. After being held on charges of spying and propaganda, he was sentenced in January 2022 to eight years and eight months in prison.
Brière is from Lyon.[2] In 2018 he began a van trip,[1] documented on Instagram, which had taken him through Finland, Turkey and Montenegro. In May 2020 he was in Iran, and after flying a Helicam in the desert near the Turkmenistan border,[3] was arrested on 26 May by security forces on charges of photography in a prohibited area, use of a recreational drone in a natural park, and posting on social media questioning Iranian laws that mandate the hijab for women. He was placed in custody in Vakilabad prison in Mashhad,[4][5] on a spying charge; on the first anniversary of his detention, in May 2021, a propaganda charge was added.[4] His lawyer said that charges of alcoholism and "corruption on earth" had been dropped after investigation.[1][4] In December 2021, after his case had still not been referred to a court and he had been denied permission to speak with his family at Christmas and New Year's, Brière began a hunger strike;[3][5] in early January 2022, a demonstration in solidarity with him was held in the Place du Trocadéro in Paris.[5]
On 25 January 2022, Brière was tried behind closed doors by the revolutionary court in Mashhad and sentenced to 8 years on the spying charge, with an additional 8 months on the propaganda charge.[1][2][6] According to his lawyer, Brière had not been informed of an additional charge of "cooperation with states hostile to Iran", of which he was also found guilty.[7] He was released on May 12 2023, together with the other French citizen Bernard Phelan.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d "Benjamin Brière". United Against Nuclear Iran. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
- ^ a b "Le Français Benjamin Brière condamné en Iran à huit ans de prison pour 'espionnage'" [Frenchman Benjamin Brière sentenced in Iran to eight years in prison for 'spying']. Le Monde (in French). AFP. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
- ^ a b "French national jailed in Iran since 2020 goes on hunger strike". Aljazeera. 27 December 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
- ^ a b c Hannah Somerville (30 May 2021). "Family pleads with Macron for help as French tourist Benjamin Briere charged with spying in Iran". Euronews. AP. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
- ^ a b c Pauline Rouquette (8 January 2022). "Loved ones fear for Frenchman detained in Iran for 'spying'". France 24. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
- ^ "Benjamin Brière: French tourist jailed in Iran on spying charges". BBC News. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
- ^ Georges Malbrunot (25 January 2022). "En pleines négociations sur le nucléaire, l'Iran condamne sévèrement le Français Benjamin Brière" [Amid nuclear negotiations, Iran imposes severe judgement on Frenchman Benjamin Brière]. Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 21 February 2022.
- ^ "Libération de deux Français détenus en Iran : Benjamin Brière est "soulagé" mais "très affaibli", selon sa famille". Franceinfo (in French). 2023-05-13. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
External links
This page was last edited on 28 December 2023, at 03:31