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French Academic Appears in Tehran Court

French academic Clotilde Reiss appeared before a Revolutionary Court in Tehran on Tuesday, three months after being released on bail. She stands accused of “collecting information and provoking rioters” during the widely disputed June elections. The Tehran court did not render a verdict in the case and French officials did not rule out yet another court appearance, AFP News said.

The 24-year-old, who taught French at a university in Isfahan in central Iran, has been staying in the French Embassy while she awaits the trial verdict. She and the French authorities have been seeking assurances that she will be allowed to remain at the embassy throughout her trial.

It is alleged that Reiss, a graduate student of Lille Political Sciences Institute, took photos of the election protests and emailed them to a friend in Tehran. She was arrested at Beirut airport as she was returning to France and charged in a televised mass trial in August.

The academic was released on bail in August, following payment by the French government of around 200,000 Euros. The country’s Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner stated that they expected the money to be returned and that she would be found innocent. He has called the arrest “absurd”. In reply, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi insisted that Reiss had confessed to the alleged crimes, according to Fars News Agency.

Reiss had spent five months in Iran as a research and teaching assistant. Her arrest sparked statements from French President Sarkozy and from Sweden as current holders of the EU Presidency.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

The trial is one of many taking place for alleged crimes against the state following the presidential elections in June 2009. Protests against alleged electoral fraud and in support of the independent reformist candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi have resulted in hundreds of arrests and sentences. The Iranian authorities have refused to release full details of all of the convictions and international news agencies have faced severe restrictions in the country.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send appeals:

1. Urging the authorities to re-examine the circumstances of Clotilde Reiss’s arrest and to work for her immediate release;
2. Seeking assurance from the authorities that Clotilde Reiss will be allowed to remain in the French embassy while on bail and until the trial is finished;
3. Calling on the authorities to guarantee their obligations embodied in the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran and under international law.

APPEALS TO:

His Excellency Gholam-Hossein Elham
Ministry of Justice
Park-e Shahr
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

His Excellency Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
President, Islamic Republic of Iran
Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

COPIES TO:

Mr. Mohammad Khazaee, Ambassador of Iran to the United Nations
Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
622 Third Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10017, USA

PLEASE ALSO SEND COPIES OF YOUR APPEALS TO:

Programme Officer, Network for Education and Academic Rights
90 London Road,
SE1 9LN
London, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7021 0884
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7021 0881
contact@nearinternational.org

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