The French paid a prison sentence for espionage

Iranian state media reported that a court in Iran has sentenced two French citizens to long prison terms after convicting them of espionage.

The reports did not mention the names of the accused, but they are believed to be Cecile Koehler (40 years old) and her accomplice Jacques Paris (72 years old), who are the only French citizens detained in Iran. They were arrested in May 2022 during a tourist trip.

Reports say that the two men were convicted of spying for France and Israel.

This announcement comes more than a month after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced that the agreement to exchange French detainees with an Iranian woman detained in France is about to expire.

Iran has previously said that it is possible to release Kohler and Paris within the framework of this agreement.

There was another French tourist, Olivier Grondeau, 34 years old It was issued by Iran earlier this year After being sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “conspiracy against the Islamic Republic.”

The Iranian Mizan Judicial News Agency said that one of the defendants was sentenced to six years in prison on charges of spying for France, five years on charges of conspiring against national security, and exile for 20 years on charges of “intelligence cooperation” with Israel.

The other was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of spying for France, five years on charges of conspiring against national security, and 20 years in exile on charges of complicity in intelligence cooperation with Israel.

Under Iranian law, prison sentences run concurrently. It is not clear what “exile” entailed, although in other cases convicts were sent to remote areas.

Mizan reported that their pretrial detention will be deducted from the sentences issued against them, and that the ruling can be appealed within 20 days.

France accused Iran of arbitrarily detaining Kohler and Paris and keeping them in conditions similar to torture. Iran denies these allegations.

Human rights groups say tourists and dual nationals are often detained in order to influence diplomatic negotiations, and are only released when Iran gets something in return.

the British-Iranian citizens Zaghari Ratcliffe and Anousheh Ashouri will be released in 2022After years in detention, it came after months of negotiations that saw the UK settle debts worth around £400 million dating back to the 1970s.

Koehler and Paris were promoted as being interchangeable with Mahdia Esfandiari, who has been detained in France since February on charges of promoting terrorism on social media. Iran has repeatedly described her detention as arbitrary.

It is believed that Iran is currently holding about 20 Europeans, according to Agence France-Presse.

They include British couple Craig and Lindsay Foreman, who were arrested in January while traveling through Iran on a round-the-world motorcycle tour and were later charged with espionage.

Their families maintain that they are innocent and exist Detained in ‘horrific conditions’.

Last week, 18-year-old French-German cyclist Lennart Monterlos was released after an Iranian court acquitted him of espionage charges.