Frenchman held in Iran starts new hunger strike: sister

This undated handout photo obtained from the Twitter account of Saeid Dehghan, a lawyer of French national Benjamin Briere who was arrested in Iran in 2020 on espionage charges, shows Briere posing for a picture at an undisclosed location. (AFP file photo)
1 / 2
This undated handout photo obtained from the Twitter account of Saeid Dehghan, a lawyer of French national Benjamin Briere who was arrested in Iran in 2020 on espionage charges, shows Briere posing for a picture at an undisclosed location. (AFP file photo)
This undated handout photo obtained from the Twitter account of Saeid Dehghan, a lawyer of French national Benjamin Briere who was arrested in Iran in 2020 on espionage charges, shows Briere posing for a picture at an undisclosed location. (AFP file photo)
2 / 2
This undated handout photo obtained from the Twitter account of Saeid Dehghan, a lawyer of French national Benjamin Briere who was arrested in Iran in 2020 on espionage charges, shows Briere posing for a picture at an undisclosed location. (AFP file photo)
Short Url
Updated 07 February 2023

Frenchman held in Iran starts new hunger strike: sister

Frenchman held in Iran starts new hunger strike: sister
  • Philippe Valent, Briere’s France-based lawyer, called the espionage charges against him “fiction” and his trial “a parody staged by the Revolutionary Guards,” the branch of the Iranian security forces entrusted with the preservation of the regime

PARIS: Benjamin Briere, a French national held in Iran, has gone on hunger strike for the second time since his incarceration in May 2020, his sister and his lawyer said Monday.
Briere, who was sentenced to eight years in jail for espionage, is one of seven French and more than two dozen foreign nationals who campaigners say Iran has jailed in a strategy of hostage-taking to extract concessions from the West.
Held in the prison of Vakilabad in the eastern city of Mashhad, he had already gone on hunger strike once before, at the end of December 2021.
“It’s the only weapon he has,” his sister Blandine Briere said in a statement.
He stopped eating on January 28, she said.
Philippe Valent, Briere’s France-based lawyer, called the espionage charges against him “fiction” and his trial “a parody staged by the Revolutionary Guards,” the branch of the Iranian security forces entrusted with the preservation of the regime.
Briere, the lawyer said, is “mentally and physically exhausted” in the “gloomy” prison which he said was known for frequent “extra-judicial executions” of inmates.
Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, the second of four people executed over the protests, was held in Mashhad and hanged in public in the city on December 12.
The conditions of Briere’s incarceration were “exceptionally harsh,” and he was being denied his rights, Valent said.
Iran needed to be held accountable for the danger to Briere’s “physical and mental wellbeing,” the lawyer said.
Another detainee in Iran, 64-year-old Franco-Irish citizen Bernard Phelan held since October 1, last month suspended a hunger strike that included refusing water, at the request of his family who feared for his life.
Phelan, a Paris-based travel consultant was arrested while traveling and is being held in Mashhad in northeastern Iran.
Iran accuses him of anti-government propaganda, a charge he has denied.
 

 


Macron speaks to Algerian president, Algeria's ambassador to return to France in coming days

Macron speaks to Algerian president, Algeria's ambassador to return to France in coming days
Updated 11 sec ago

Macron speaks to Algerian president, Algeria's ambassador to return to France in coming days

Macron speaks to Algerian president, Algeria's ambassador to return to France in coming days

PARIS: Emmanuel Macron spoke to the Algerian president on Friday, Algeria's ambassador to return to France in coming days.

More to follow...

 


Daesh group kills 15 truffle hunters in Syria: monitor

Daesh group kills 15 truffle hunters in Syria: monitor
Updated 24 March 2023

Daesh group kills 15 truffle hunters in Syria: monitor

Daesh group kills 15 truffle hunters in Syria: monitor
  • Syria’s desert truffles fetch high prices in a country battered by 12 years of war

BEIRUT: The Daesh group killed 15 people foraging for desert truffles in conflict-ravaged central Syria by cutting their throats, while 40 others are missing, a war monitor said Friday.
Syria’s desert truffles fetch high prices in a country battered by 12 years of war and a crushing economic crisis.
Since February, at least 150 people — most of them civilians — have been killed by IS attacks targeting truffle hunters or by land mines left by the extremists, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
“At least 15 people, including seven civilians and eight local pro-regime fighters, were killed by Daesh fighters who slit their throats while they were collecting truffles on Thursday,” said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.
Forty others are missing following the attack in Hama province, he added.
Syrian state media did not immediately report the incident.
Between February and April each year, hundreds of impoverished Syrians search for truffles in the vast Syrian Desert, or Badia — a known hideout for jihadists that is also littered with land mines.
Foragers risk their lives to collect the delicacies, despite repeated warnings about land mines and Daesh fighters.
Earlier this month, Daesh fighters killed three truffle hunters and kidnapped at least 26 others in northern Syria, according to the monitor, which relies on a vast network of sources inside Syria.
That attack happened near positions held by pro-Iran forces, said the Britain-based Observatory.


Briton, hotel worker die in Morocco resort spa fire

Briton, hotel worker die in Morocco resort spa fire
Updated 24 March 2023

Briton, hotel worker die in Morocco resort spa fire

Briton, hotel worker die in Morocco resort spa fire
  • Blaze in Marrakech trapped father of two, worker in ‘truly horrific incident’
  • They died from smoke inhalation despite efforts of paramedics, police, firefighters

LONDON: A British man and a hotel worker have died in a fire that broke out at a resort in Marrakech on Wednesday, The Sun reported.

The blaze broke out in a spa in the five-star Jaal Riad Resort, trapping the father of two and the hotel worker inside.

They died from smoke inhalation despite the efforts of paramedics, police and firefighters who rushed to the scene.

A source described it as a “truly horrific incident,” adding that the Briton “was a tourist visiting the area with friends and they have had to break the news to his family. Everyone is heartbroken.”

A fire service spokesman said: “We can’t comment further because of an ongoing investigation.”


Algeria to send imams to Italy for Taraweeh prayers

Algeria to send imams to Italy for Taraweeh prayers
Updated 24 March 2023

Algeria to send imams to Italy for Taraweeh prayers

Algeria to send imams to Italy for Taraweeh prayers
  • Imams to be sent to France for same purpose; Germany and Belgium have made similar requests
  • Italy made request ‘so all Muslims will be given good spiritual care during Ramadan,’ Interior Ministry source tells Arab News

ROME: Twenty-nine imams from Algeria will be sent by their government to Italy to help local imams perform Taraweeh prayers during the holy month of Ramadan.

The imams will be sent “upon a specific request by the Italian authorities,” Algerian Religious Affairs Minister Youssef Belmehdi told state radio.

He added that 128 imams will be sent to France for the same purpose, and that Germany and Belgium have made similar requests.

A source in Italy’s Interior Ministry told Arab News that the request for imams from Algeria was made “so that all Muslims in Italy will be given good spiritual care during Ramadan.” The source said Algeria’s government “enthusiastically and promptly agreed” to the request.

Giuseppe Ciutti, a Catholic priest who is engaged in ecumenical dialogue, told Arab News: “At such an important time as Ramadan for Muslims, it’s important that everyone can get good spiritual assistance.”

According to the Union of Islamic Communities in Italy, 2.5 million Muslims live in the country, comprising 4.7 percent of the total population. Moroccans represent the largest Muslim community in Italy.


Iran urges France to listen to protesters, avoid violence

Iran urges France to listen to protesters, avoid violence
Updated 24 March 2023

Iran urges France to listen to protesters, avoid violence

Iran urges France to listen to protesters, avoid violence
  • Protesters clashed with French security forces in the most serious violence yet of a three-month revolt
  • Kanani was referring to criticism, including from France, of Iran’s response to months-long protests

TEHRAN: Iran on Friday urged France to listen to protesters and avoid violence after more than 450 people were arrested and nearly as many police were injured in demonstrations against pension reforms.
Protesters clashed with French security forces on Thursday in the most serious violence yet of a three-month revolt against President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to increase the retirement age.
“The French government must talk to its people and listen to their voices,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani tweeted.
“We do not support destruction or rioting, but we maintain that instead of creating chaos in other countries, listen to the voice of your people and avoid violence against them,” he added.
Kanani was referring to criticism, including from France, of Iran’s response to months-long protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini after the 22-year-old’s arrest for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women.
Hundreds of people have been killed, including dozens of security personnel, and thousands arrested in connection with what Iranian officials described as “riots” fomented by Israel and the West.
The United States, Britain and the European Union have imposed several rounds of sanctions on Iran for its response to the protest movement, led mostly by women.
“Those who sow the wind reap the whirlwind,” Kanani said, adding that such “violence contradicts sitting on the chair of morality lessons and preaching to others.”
On Friday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 457 people had been arrested and 441 members of the security forces injured the day before during the protests.
Darmanin dismissed calls from protesters to withdraw the pensions reform.
“I don’t think we should withdraw this law because of violence,” he said. “If so, that means there’s no state. We should accept a democratic, social debate, but not a violent debate.”