French citizen charged with espionage in Iran
The man was flying a helicopter with a camera in the desert, according to his lawyer. Several foreigners have been charged with spying and related crimes in Iran recently.
A French tourist in Iran has been charged with espionage. He is one of several foreigners incarcerated in Iran on contested grounds.
Benjamin Briere was charged with espionage and “propaganda against the system,” one of his lawyers told Reuters on Monday. The French national was first arrested last year after flying a remote control helicopter with camera capabilities in the desert near the Iran-Turkmenistan border. He is in good health and in contact with French consular officials. Briere is currently in the Vakilabad prison in Mashhad and faces several years in prison, according to the outlet.
Briere is the latest in a series of legal cases involving foreigners in Iran who have been arrested for spying and other crimes. Some of the charges in these cases have been disputed by foreign governments and rights groups. This month, Iranian-British aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was freed from house arrest after five years. She was accused of plotting to topple the government. However, she now faces new charges in court. The British government has called for her immediate and full release. Iran does not recognize dual nationality.
In November, Australian-British professor Kylie Moore-Gilbert was freed from prison. She was arrested in 2018 for espionage, which she continues to deny.
