French foreign minister denounces spy charges against couple imprisoned in Iran
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Thursday said France had not been formally notified by Iranian authorities of the charges against French citizens Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, which reportedly include spying for Israel.
If confirmed, France would consider the charges 'totally unjustified and unfounded,' Barrot said, calling for the couple's 'immediate, unconditional release.'
Kohler, 40, and her partner Paris, 72, were arrested in May 2022 and until last month were detained at Tehran's Evin Prison, known for holding dual nationals and Westerners who are used by Iran as bargaining chips in diplomatic negotiations.
A French diplomat was able to meet the pair earlier this week as their families demanded proof they were alive following recent Israeli strikes on the prison.
Kohler's sister, Noemie Kohler, said in an interview broadcast Thursday on BFM TV that the couple were told they had been charged with spying for Israel, conspiracy to overthrow the Iranian regime and 'corruption on Earth.'
'Our understanding … is that they face death penalty,' she said. 'We're really extremely worried about their psychological state and the trauma of the bombings.'
The visit by the French diplomat took place at a prison south of Tehran but, like some other prisoners, Kohler and Paris were transferred from Evin following the Israeli strikes and their location is unknown, Noemie Kohler said.
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Winnipeg Free Press
37 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Pope Leo XIV resumes the tradition of taking a summer vacation. But he's got plenty of homework
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Even before he gets his people in place, Leo has to get a handle on one of the most pressing problems facing the Holy See: Its troubled finances. The Vatican is running a structural deficit of around 50 million to 60 million euros ($59-71 million) and has a 1 billion euro ($1.18 billion) shortfall in its pension fund. The Rupnik problem There are plenty of high-profile clergy sex cases that festered during Francis' pontificate that are now are on Leo's desk. History's first American pope will be watched closely to see how he handles them, since he cannot claim ignorance about abuse or its dynamics, given the devastation the scandals have wrought in the United States. Leo has already said it's 'urgent' to create a culture of prevention in the church that shows no tolerance for any form of abuse, be it abuse of authority or spiritual or sexual abuse. On that score, there is no case more pressing than that of the Rev. Marko Rupnik, a famous mosaic artist who was belatedly thrown out of the Jesuits after its superiors determined he sexually, psychologically and spiritually abused two dozen adult women and nuns. Even though the case didn't involve minors, it became a toxic problem for Francis because of suggestions Rupnik received favorable treatment at the Vatican under the Jesuit pope. Nearly two years after Francis caved into pressure to reopen the Rupnik file, the Vatican has finally found external canon lawyers to hear the case, the head of the Vatican's doctrine office, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, told reporters last week. As recently as March, Fernandez had said he was having trouble finding any willing candidates. Now that Francis is dead, the case may be less politically delicate, even as the priest's supporters maintain his innocence. The Becciu case Another legal headache facing Leo is what to do about Cardinal Angelo Becciu and the Vatican's 'trial of the century,' which is heading into the appeals phase in September. The city-state's criminal tribunal in 2023 convicted Becciu and eight other people of a variety of financial crimes stemming from the Holy See's bungled 350 million euro ($412 million) investment in a London property. But the trial was itself problematic, with defense claims that basic defense rights weren't respected since Francis intervened on several occasions in favor of prosecutors. In the months since the verdicts were handed down, there have been new revelations that Vatican gendarmes and prosecutors were apparently in regular touch with a woman who was coaching the star witness into testifying against Becciu. The once-powerful cardinal has denounced the contacts as evidence that his conviction was orchestrated from the start, from the top. 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Cardinal Raymond Burke, a figurehead of the conservative and traditionalist camp, told a recent conference on the Latin Mass that he had spoken to Leo about the need to 'put an end to the present persecution of the faithful' who want to worship according to the old rite. 'It it is my hope that he will as soon as it is possible take up the study of this question and try to restore the situation as it was' under Benedict's reform, Burke said. AI and travel priorities Leo has also identified artificial intelligence as a pressing issue facing humanity, suggesting a document of some sort might be in the works. Also under study is when he will start traveling, and where. Leo has a standing invitation to undertake Francis' last, unfulfilled foreign commitment: Marking the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea, Christianity's first ecumenical council, with a visit to Turkey. Leo has already said a visit is in the works, possibly in late November. Beyond that, Leo has received plenty of invitations: Vice President JD Vance extended a Trump invitation to visit the U.S., but Leo demurred and offered a noncommittal 'at some point.' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited him to visit Kyiv, but the Vatican under Francis had refused a papal visit there unless one could also be arranged to Moscow. Leo's old diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, meanwhile, is waiting for their bishop to come home, and then there's Argentina, which never got a papal visit from the first-ever Argentine pope. A town awaits Sundays Kevin Rollason's Sunday newsletter honouring and remembering lives well-lived in Manitoba. The residents of Castel Gandolfo, meanwhile, are aching for a pope to return. Francis had decided not to use the retreat and instead spent his 12 papal summers at home, in the Vatican. The town has recovered from the economic hit of pope-free summers, after Francis instead opened the papal palace and gardens to the public as a museum year-round. But townsfolks cannot wait for Leo to take up residence and enjoy the town's gorgeous lake views and quiet starry nights. It's the perfect place for a pope to rest, read, write and think in private, they say. 'Remember, many encyclicals were written here,' noted the Rev. Tadeusz Rozmus, the town's parish priest. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Toronto Star
2 hours ago
- Toronto Star
What's in the tax and spending bill that Trump has signed into law
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Canada News.Net
3 hours ago
- Canada News.Net
Should Frances incel threat be treated like terrorism
An 18-year-old Frenchman was detained and charged on July 1 with being part of a terrorist criminal enterprise. Amid reports of an increase in masculinism a belief in the supremacy of men and advocacy of outmoded gender roles among young men, it is the first time that French anti-terror authorities have launched an investigation into someone for activities linked to the "involuntary celibate (incel) movement. France'scounter-terrorismauthority has launched its first investigation into the threat posed by the toxic misogyny of masculinist,incelculture. An 18-year-old identified as Timothy G. was charged and placed in pre-trial detention on Tuesday for being part of a terrorist criminal conspiracy and making threats. He had two knives in his possession when he was arrested on June 28 in the Saint-tienne region by the French domestic intelligence service, the DGSI, near the secondary school he attended. He had no police record and was enrolled in preparatory classes prior to attending university. Timothy G's lawyer, Maria Snitsar, said her client was a young person in distress who has difficulty communicating with young people of his age [and] who is not at ease with himself. She also said his detention was likely related to his activity online. I have the impression that being on social networks played a part in his being placed under investigation. Snitsar says understanding her clients personality would be a key part of the inquiry. Determining the legal categorisation of the charges will be possible only once the investigation has progressed further, she added. Not much precedent Very little information has been made public since Timothy G.'s first appearance before a custodial judge. However, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office confirmed that an investigation had been opened into the young man, who "claims to be a member of the incel movement". Incels feel they have been rejected by women and have adopted aggressively misogynist views in response. According to a source close to the investigation, this is the first time an individual claiming to belong to this movement has been referred to the anti-terrorism prosecutors officefor related activities. Since the creation of the special anti-terror prosecutor's officein 2019, magistrates have mainly focused on the jihadist threat or potential attacksfromfar-right groups. Watch moreFrance arrests teen for plotting attacks on women in landmark 'incel' case There isn't much case law on this type of issue, notesSnitsar. But in recent years, the incel branch of the masculinist movement has stepped up its hateful rhetoric, sometimes leading to acts of violence. In May 2024, a 26-year-old man was arrested nearBordeauxafter a member of the public alerted authorities to his toxic online posts via theinterior ministrys Pharos web portal, a system designed to curb illicit or harmful online content. He had posted a videopraising incel Elliot Rodger, the 22-year-old perpetrator of a 2014 mass killing in Isla Vista,California, in which seven people died, including Rodger. Because the terrorist intentions of the young Frenchman from Bordeaux were not established, the anti-terrorism prosecutors officedid not deal with the case. Dehumanisation of women Originating in North America in the 1990s, masculinist ideology has taken off, in part thanks to theinternet. FrancesHigh Council for Equality between Women and Men(HCE) noted in its most recent report in January that "sexist and masculinist discourse has gained in visibility". Read moreFrench man linked to incel movement detained over suspected plan to attack women "Women are more feminist and men more masculinist, especially young people," notes the councils director, Brangre Couillard. According to a 2024HCE survey, 52 percent of men between 25 and 34 felt that "men are being picked on". Among the various branches of masculinism popular on online forums, the "incels" are the most violent. A few hours before going on his killing spree, Rodgerposted a long manifesto, justifying his actions by his hatred of women who had rejected him. I do not know why you girls arent attracted to me, he wroteBut I will punish you all for it. Mlissa Blais, professor of sociology at the Universit du Qubec in Outaouais (UQO) and a specialist in antifeminist movements, says there is something particularly violent about the movements seen today. "In incel communities, there's something going on that's conducive to mass murder. Women are dehumanised, labelled as femoids seen as creatures to be fought. Dehumanisation is an important part of mass murder," Blais says. Canadahas been one of the epicentres of masculinism since a 1989massacreatMontreal's cole Polytechnique that targeted women. "There were two charges of terrorismbrought inconnection with masculinist attacks in Canada in 2023, says Blais. One of the two men involved was a minor who had attempted to murder women in a massage parlour in 2020 in a case also inspired by the incel movement. In that case, an Ontario judge explained during the hearing that the suspect's behaviour did, indeed,meet the criteria to beconsideredterrorismunder the Canadian Criminal Code. An evolving threat that is difficult to track Many countries are now weighing what incel activity meets the criteria to be legally categorised as terrorism. After a mass shooting in Plymouth in August 2021,UKcounter-terrorism police initially felt the attack hadnot been motivated by "incel" propaganda. They backtracked in light of videos found on the suspects computer. "The question is whether or not the authorities wish to treat the incel phenomenon as a terrorist risk," notes the UK's independent terrorism laws auditor, Jonathan Hall. Hall says thedefinition of terrorism in the UKis broad enough to prosecute incel violence under its statutes. The incel threat is difficult for the police to track. Although all are young men, they do not function as an established group or have a hierarchy, unlike a structured terrorist also come from a wide variety of social backgrounds. However, a 2021 report by the Paris public prosecutor's officecited by Mediapartnoted the ideological proximity between the radicalfar rightand masculinist groups. In its 2020 report on the terrorist threat, the European police agencyEuropol categorisedincels as a subset of far-right terrorism. But Eviane Leidig, a researcher at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, an independent think tank, says this classification does not provide an effective understanding of the threat. Movements such as male supremacism and incels can and should be considered as a distinct threat category, and not simply as a gateway to other ideologies, she says. The investigation into Timothy G. could provide the first clues as to how the French justice system willcome to grips with the masculinist threat as well as the role ofsocial networksin recruitment. This article has been translated from theoriginal in Frenchby David Howley.
