French tourist jailed in Iran goes on hunger strike

French tourist jailed in Iran goes on hunger strike
# 28 December 2021 00:28 (UTC +04:00)

Benjamin Briere, a French tourist jailed in Iran on spying charges since spring 2020, has begun a hunger strike, his lawyer and sister said in a statement on Monday.

French authorities remain in close contact with Briere, visiting him on Dec. 21 and contacting him on Monday, a French foreign ministry spokesperson said.

Briere has been held since May 2020, when he was arrested after flying a helicam - a remote-controlled mini helicopter used to obtain aerial or motion images - in the desert near the Turkmenistan-Iran border. He was charged with espionage and propaganda against the Islamic Republic. read more

"The feeling of abandonment - and distress – has led Benjamin Briere to embark on a hunger strike in order to alert Iranian and French authorities to the absurdity of his detention," his sister Blandine Briere and lawyer Philippe Valent said in an emailed statement.

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THE OPERATION IS BEING PERFORMED