Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris have been held hostage in Iran since 7 May 2022 in appalling conditions. Held separately in a high-security section of Evin prison in Tehran, they are cut off from the world. The mistreatment to which they are subjected leads us to fear serious repercussions for their health.
Cécile Kohler is a secondary school French teacher and Jacques Paris is a retired mathematics teacher. They went to visit the tourist sites of Iran during the spring holidays two years ago. They were brutally arrested at the end of their trip.
They spent several months in complete solitary confinement. Many testimonies describe the isolation as a deeply traumatic experience. They now each share a 9m2 cell, with no furniture, with several other detainees who are constantly changing.
In two years of detention, the Iranian authorities have only granted them three brief consular visits, and they have not been able to see an independent lawyer.
The rare calls Cécile and Jacques are allowed to make to their family last only a few minutes and are carried out under heavy surveillance, preventing them from expressing themselves freely. The connection is so bad that it prevents any dialogue, even though the prison has perfectly functional telephones. Everything is done to break them.
Cécile and Jacques are imprisoned without trial. They are victims of the hostage diplomacy practised by the Islamic Republic.They are pawns caught in the trap of geopolitical issues beyond their control.
We, their parents, families, friends and colleagues, call on France to do everything in its power to secure their release as a matter of urgency.
We, parents, family, friends and colleagues ask the Islamic Republic to release Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris immediately, and in the meantime to ensure that their conditions of detention are decent and that their fundamental rights are finally respected.
Let’s not let them languish in prison.
Let’s help them by sharing this message and this petition as widely as possible. Together, let’s bring Cécile and Jacques home.
In addition to Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, two other French citizens are being held hostage by the Islamic Republic of Iran: Louis Arnaud and Olivier, let’s not forget them.
Thank you so much for your support.
For further information
Website - Liberté pour Cécile Twitter : @FreeCecile_ Instagram: liberte_pour_cecile
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