Oct. 8 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The French Foreign Ministry has urged all its citizens to leave Iran “as soon as possible” due to the risk that they may be subject to “arrests, arbitrary detentions and unfair trials” amid protests over the death of the young Iranian Mahsa Amini in police custody for wearing the veil wrong.
“All French visitors, including those with dual nationality, are exposed to a high risk of arrest” which also applies even to those who are tourists.
In its alert, the Ministry warns that, in case of arrest or detention, “respect for fundamental rights and the security of the person is not guaranteed.”
It should be remembered that France has asked the Iranian authorities in recent hours to release two French citizens, Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, accused by the Islamic republic of belonging to the French intelligence services.
Kohler, 37, was a member of the French National Federation for Education, Culture and Vocational Training (FNEC-FP FO) and her husband, 69, was previously Secretary General of the Division of Colleges and High Schools (SNFOLC). . Her arrest was announced in May as they were about to return to France after what they described as a tourist visit.
The French government confirmed the arrests and categorically denied that they were spies.
With this latest travel advisory, France thus joins the Netherlands and Spain, which issued similar alerts this past Friday.
Iranian forensic experts have assured that Amini, in police custody after being arrested by agents of the so-called Moral Police, died of a heart problem and not of any blow.
The death of the young woman has provoked a wave of indignation both in a part of Iranian society, and more unanimously at the international level.
There have been numerous demonstrations in various cities in Iran, including Tehran, in which numerous women have thrown off their veils and cut their hair in protest. For their part, the authorities have virulently repressed these gatherings, leaving at least 154 dead, according to the latest counts by the non-governmental organization Iran Human Rights (IHR).
