The family of Louis Arnaud who has been detained in Iran since September has reiterated calls for his release and asked European governments to "redouble their efforts" to free their nationals.
“Louis started his world tour on July 19, 2022, we take this anniversary date to draw attention to his situation,” explained the mother of the 35-year-old consultant, Sylvie Arnaud.
In a statement, his support committee denounced "an unfounded detention" and stressed that Arnaud, accused of participating in the demonstrations that broke out in Iran in September after the death of Mahsa Amini, "claims his innocence".
Arnaud and European travel companions had stayed away from the demonstrations that began in mid-September when they had already been in the country for several weeks. They were on their way to an escape game site to celebrate the birthday of one of them when they were abruptly arrested and taken to Tehran's Evin prison. While his European friends have since been released, Louis has now been detained for 293 days, the statement said.
His mother said that his conditions of detention have improved and that he can call them regularly.
Physically, he's fine. He is trying to maintain his mind which is starting to falter because of the length of detention, she continued, calling on the French government and European governments to redouble their efforts to secure the release of their nationals.
Iran detains more than a dozen Western nationals, most of them dual nationals, and is accused by their supporters and NGOs of using them as bargaining chips in negotiations.
In addition to Arnaud, three Frenchmen, whom Paris describes as "state hostages", are still detained in Iran: French teacher Cécile Kohler and her companion Jacques Paris, arrested in May 2022 for "espionage", and another whose identity has not been disclosed.
French-Iranian researcher Fariba Adelkhah, arrested in 2019 and sentenced to five years in prison for endangering national security, was released on February 10 but banned from leaving Iran.
