Iranian state television showed the alleged “confessions” of two Frenchmen arrested and detained in the country for five months. It is about Cecile Kohlerof the French teachers’ union, and his partner, Jacques Paris, stopped in May and accused of working to create unrest in the Islamic Republic. In the video, Kohler calls himself “an agent of the DGSE”, Paris intelligence. The clips are part of what is being described as an upcoming documentary to air on Iranian state television. France did not immediately respond to the publication. However, in May, the French government demanded the release of Kohler and Paris and condemned “these unfounded arrests”.
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by Natasha Caragnano
On 11 May Iran announced the arrest of two Europeans “who entered the country with the aim of wreaking havoc and destabilizing society”. The French authorities had denounced the arrest as “unfounded” and asked for their “immediate release”. Tehran then accused the two “French trade unionists” of “undermining the security” of the country. A French union source said they were on tour in Iran for the Easter holidays at the time of the arrest. At the same time, protests by teachers for a higher salary were held in the country.
In the tape released today, the woman said that she and her husband were in Iran “to prepare the conditions for the revolution and the overthrow of the Iranian Islamic regime”. They had to finance strikes and demonstrations and even use weapons “to fight against the police”. Kohler wears a headscarf and describes himself as a “French Foreign Security Service Operational Intelligence Agent”.According to the man, who also speaks French, the objectives of the French security services “were to put pressure on the government” of Iran.
The spread of what is presented as a “confession” of espionage by the two Frenchmen are “an unworthy, repulsive, unacceptable staging and contrary to international law”: this is what he says the French Foreign Ministry, adding that “this antics reveals the contempt for human dignity that characterizes the Iranian authorities”. The statement therefore launches an appeal for the “immediate release” of the two citizens.
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The footage resembles other videos that Tehran forced prisoners to make. According to a 2020 report, authorities have aired at least 355 forced confessions over the past decade. Meanwhile, Iran has been in turmoil for weeks since protests over the death of Mahsa Aminithe 22-year-old Kurdish woman who died in police custody after being arrested by the moral police for not wearing the hijab correctly.