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Paris Denounces Iranian Sentence Against French Citizen

Iran flag seen outside a nuclear facility in southern Iran (AFP)
Iran flag seen outside a nuclear facility in southern Iran (AFP)
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Paris Denounces Iranian Sentence Against French Citizen

Iran flag seen outside a nuclear facility in southern Iran (AFP)
Iran flag seen outside a nuclear facility in southern Iran (AFP)

An Iranian court has ordered a five-year jail sentence against a French national tried on national security charges and held in prison for over a year, his family announced on Wednesday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anne-Claire Legendre denounced the sentence against Louis Arnaud, calling it "unacceptable."

"We call for his immediate release, as well as that of all French citizens arbitrarily detained in Iran," the ministry said in a statement reported by AFP.

The family said Arnaud was innocent of all charges and denounced the verdict as "an attack on human rights and individual freedoms.

Arnaud has lodged an appeal against the verdict, the family added.

“Louis had undertaken his journey with the aim of discovering the cultural diversity of the world, stopping in Iran, a country he had dreamed of visiting for a long time for the richness of its history and the welcome of its inhabitants,” said his mother, Sylvie.

"Unfortunately, his dream turned into a nightmare when he was unjustly targeted, imprisoned, and now convicted on baseless charges, stripping him of his freedom and rights," she added.

His mother insisted he had "kept a distance from the social movements that were starting" while in Iran, in reference to the protest movement that erupted in September 2022.

“At no time did he act with political intentions or carelessness.”

The verdict has so far not been reported by Iranian media or publicly confirmed by the Iranian judiciary.

Aside from Arnaud, three other French citizens are held by Iran and considered as “state hostages”, and they are Cecile Kohler, Jacques Paris, and a third one whose identity hasn’t been disclosed.

In May, Iran freed French prisoners Benjamin Briere and Bernard Phelan, the latter also an Irish national, for “humanitarian reasons”.

Cecile is “exhausted” and “desperate”, said her sister Noemie on Monday, adding “she does not understand why she has been imprisoned”.

In the same context, French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah finally returned to France in October after being held for four-and-a-half years.

In parallel, the Iranian Judiciary has announced the indictment of Swedish Diplomat Johan Floderus, as reported by Mizan, the judiciary’s news agency.

Iran has been detaining him for over a year now.

As he was departing Iran, he was detained by the Ministry of Intelligence at the airport on charges of espionage. The ministry added that Floderus had made multiple trips to Iran.

This case has caused tension between the two countries.

For its part, Iran demanded the release of the Swedish citizen, known as Hamid Nouri, and imprisoned for life for his role in executing political prisoners in Iran.

Iran has dozens of Western citizens in detention, while NGOs and defenders accuse Iran of exploiting this matter for political purposes.

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Taliban Say It’s Absurd to Accuse Them of Gender Discrimination

Afghan women stitch clothes at a workshop in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 04 September 2024. EPA/QUDRATULLAH RAZWAN
Afghan women stitch clothes at a workshop in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 04 September 2024. EPA/QUDRATULLAH RAZWAN
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Taliban Say It’s Absurd to Accuse Them of Gender Discrimination

Afghan women stitch clothes at a workshop in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 04 September 2024. EPA/QUDRATULLAH RAZWAN
Afghan women stitch clothes at a workshop in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 04 September 2024. EPA/QUDRATULLAH RAZWAN

The Taliban said Thursday it was absurd to accuse them of gender discrimination and other human rights violations, as four countries vow to hold Afghanistan’s rulers accountable under international law for their treatment of women and girls.
Australia, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands are set to start legal proceedings against the Taliban for violating a UN convention on women, to which Afghanistan is a party.
The countries launched the initiative on Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, which is taking place in New York until Monday.
Despite promising more moderate rule after they seized power in 2021, the Taliban have barred women and girls from education beyond sixth grade, many public spaces and most jobs. In August, the Vice and Virtue Ministry issued laws banning women’s bare faces and prohibiting them from raising their voices in public.
More than 20 countries expressed their support Thursday for the proposed legal action against the Taliban.
“We condemn the gross and systematic human rights violations and abuses in Afghanistan, particularly the gender-based discrimination against women and girls," the countries said.
“Afghanistan is responsible under international law for its ongoing gross and systematic violation of numerous obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,” they added.
The countries said they did not politically recognize the Taliban as the legitimate leaders of the Afghan population.
“Afghanistan’s failure to fulfill its human rights treaty obligations is a key obstacle to normalization of relations,” they said.
The Taliban’s deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said human rights were protected in Afghanistan and that nobody faced discrimination.
“Unfortunately, an attempt is being made to spread propaganda against Afghanistan through the mouths of several fugitive (Afghan) women and misrepresent the situation,” he said on social media platform X.
The Taliban reject all criticism of their policies, especially those affecting women and girls, describing it as interference. They maintain that their actions are in line with their own interpretation of Islamic law.
Fereshta Abbasi, an Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, urged other countries to register their support for the four countries’ legal action and for them to involve Afghan women as the process moved forward.
“The announcement by Germany, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands may mark the beginning of a path to justice for the Taliban’s egregious human rights violations against Afghan women and girls,” said Abbasi.