A French lecturer and two Iranian employees of the British and French embassies unexpectedly appeared among defendants in a mass trial hearing in an Iranian court on Saturday.
Along with about 10 other people, they faced charges linked to protests that followed the re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June 12 presidential election, Iranian news agencies said.
The French foreign ministry called for the “immediate release” of the lecturer and the embassy staff member, while British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the trial was the “latest Iranian provocation.”
PHOTO: REUTERS
French academic Clotilde Reiss, who turned 24 in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison on July 31, was arrested on July 1 as she tried to fly home.
“She is accused of collecting information and provoking rioters,” the prosecution was quoted as saying as Reiss, wearing blue jeans, dark coat and a colorful scarf, sat in the front row with a policewoman alongside.
Fellow defendant Nazak Afshar, from the French embassy’s cultural section, was also in court. The hearing was not open to foreign media.
State TV said both Reiss and Afshar played an “active role in the unrest by giving information to foreign embassies.”
IRNA news agency said Reiss admitted reporting on post-election protests in the central city of Isfahan.
“I wrote a one-page report and submitted it to ... the cultural department of the French embassy,” it quoted her as telling the judge.
“I was planning to leave Iran, but I took part in rallies of June 15 and 17 in Tehran and took photographs and film. I did this out of curiosity and to be aware of the political situation. I wanted to know what was happening,” she said.
ISNA news agency quoted Reiss as saying she sent e-mails about the demonstrations to friends and family members.
The report quoted her as telling the judge: “I ask Iran, its people and the court to forgive me. I hope I will be pardoned.”
Afshar told the court that she and other staffers had been told to shelter post-election protesters, IRNA said.
“In the event that confrontations occurred in front of the cultural department of the embassy, we were told to offer refuge to protesters if they asked,” Afshar said.
Also facing charges was British embassy local staffer Hossein Rassam, who was detained in Tehran along with eight embassy colleagues. They were later freed, while he was released on bail. IRNA said he was accused of spying.
“You along with Arash Momenian were given the duty of meeting representatives of political groups, ethnic and religious minorities, and student groups and to relay the news of Iran’s riots to London,” the news agency quoted the prosecutor as saying.
Rassam was quoted as telling the court: “The victory of Mr Ahmadinejad was shocking for the British embassy, and in our first report to London we stressed claims made by one candidate about fraud” in the election.
He was reported as saying that British diplomats, including two expelled later, had attended protests in Tehran and that “the ambassador along with the charge d’affaires took part in witnessing a rally of Mousavi supporters.”
Both Ahmadinejad’s main challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and reformist former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami have denounced the trials.
The EU presidency urged Iran to release Reiss, Afshar and Rassam soon, calling their trial an act against the whole EU.
“Actions against one EU country, citizen or embassy staff is considered an action against all of EU, and will be treated accordingly,” the Swedish EU presidency said in a statement.
Miliband said Rassam’s trial was the “latest Iranian provocation” since the disputed presidential election and he was “deeply concerned by the unjustified charges.”
The French foreign ministry called for the “immediate release” of Reiss and Afshar, saying the charges against Reiss were “devoid of any foundation” and those against Afshar were “non-existent.”
In France, Reiss’s father Remi was taken unawares by her appearance in court.
“I had not been told. I was surprised to see her appear at this trial,” he said, adding that he believes she is innocent.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS