05-07-2025
- Politics
- United News of India
Families of detained French nationals in Iran reveal they have been moved to secret locations after Evin prison bombing
Tehran/Paris, July 5 (UNI) France has once again demanded the release of two nationals who have been held in Iran on espionage charges since 2022, calling the allegations baseless.
The couple -- Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris -- were reportedly moved to unknown locations after surviving explosions at Tehran's Evin prison during Israeli strikes on June 23, according to their families.
'Iranian authorities don't tell (us) where they are being held,' Cécile's sister Noémie told Iran International yesterday.
Noémie said that since the Israeli strike, they have had only one consular visit, on July one, when the family was relieved to learn that they were "at least still alive.'
She said that the couple had been held in Ward 209 — which operates under the oversight of Iran's Intelligence\\\\\\\\\\\\ Ministry — at the time of the strike, and that they had remained there for more than three years.
'They were held in Ward 209 for more than three years,' she said. 'They were in solitary confinement for several months.'
The Ward has been called a 'prison within a prison' by the Human Rights Watch, with the whole area being exempt from judicial oversight, subjecting prisoners to long periods of arbitrary solitary confinement, denial of consular access and extremely harsh punishment – even torture.
The couple were moved shortly after the blasts. 'We understood (Cécile) was transferred to Qarchak prison,' Noémie said.
'She was transferred to Qarchak prison for 24 hours. Then, she was transferred to an undisclosed place — she was blindfolded so she doesn't know where she is being held right now.'
'Jacques was transferred to an undisclosed location right after the bombings,' she added.
The family has not had direct contact with either of them since May 28.
Noémie said Iranian authorities recently charged the couple with 'spying for Israel,' 'conspiracy to overthrow the regime,' and 'corruption on Earth' — charges that carry the death penalty under Iranian law.
'We don't have more specific information. We only know a judge told them the charges,' she said.
She further said the couple is not allowed independent legal representation and that 'nobody has access to their case file.'
France has blasted the detention, calling it 'hostage diplomacy.' The Iranian military, more specifically the IRGC, has a history of arbitrary detentions of foreign nationals, in particular Western nationals, which France along with other European nations say has been Iran's policy of pressuring Western countries.
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