Family and Colleagues of Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris Demand Their Release from the Islamic Republic's Prison

The family and colleagues of Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, two French teachers imprisoned in Iran, have expressed concern about the "extremely worrying and inhumane" prison conditions and once again called for their release. As the "third school year without Cecile Kohler" begins, they emphasized the need for "immediate and significant improvement in prison conditions" for these two French teachers held in Evin prison, noting that 850 days have passed since their detention. The statement expressed despair over the possibility that the imprisonment of these two French citizens could become a "normal" occurrence. The families of Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris are only in contact with them through controlled and limited phone calls and have little information about their situation. Cecile Kohler, a French literature teacher, and her partner, Jacques Paris, a retired mathematics teacher, were arrested on May 6, 2022, after meeting with several labor activists and teachers in Tehran and were accused of "espionage." According to the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Associations, these two French union activists have been accused of espionage based on "forced confessions." Amnesty International reported that Cecile Kohler spent the first three months of her detention in solitary confinement, and the Islamic Republic's state television aired her forced confessions as part of a propaganda campaign. This international organization recently stated that there is ample evidence that the Islamic Republic has taken Cecile Kohler, a French teacher and citizen, hostage since May 2022 to "force French officials to take specific actions." This human rights organization described the imprisonment of this representative of French teachers as "arbitrary" and emphasized the long history of the Islamic Republic's officials detaining dual nationals and foreigners to use them as leverage against other countries. Currently, at least three French citizens are imprisoned in Iran, which France refers to as the Islamic Republic's "state hostages." Amnesty International has called for the "immediate release" of Cecile Kohler, a French citizen imprisoned in Iran. The Committee for the Freedom of Cecile Kohler noted that 600 days have passed since her detention in Iran. Members of the Grant Est Council have expressed support for the imprisoned French teacher in Iran. The International Education Organization has urged the Islamic Republic to release the two French citizens.