Support from the 'Grand Est' Council Members for French Teacher Imprisoned in Iran

On Monday, June 19, the majority group of the 'Grand Est' regional council in France held a rally in support of Cecile Couler, a French teacher and union activist who has been 'unjustly detained' in Iran. The Twitter account of the majority group posted photos from the rally, stating: 'Cecile Couler has been unjustly detained in Iran for 408 days and deprived of her freedom and rights. 408 days is a very long time.' The tweet emphasized that 'the entire region has mobilized in support of her today.' Ms. Couler, along with her husband Jacques Pari, has been imprisoned in Evin on charges of espionage, stemming from their meeting with a number of labor and teachers' union activists. Their family has denied the allegations against the two French citizens. Additionally, detained Iranian activists, their families, labor organizations, teachers, and numerous labor and teachers' unions worldwide have deemed the charges brought by the Islamic Republic as a violation of International Labor Organization conventions regarding the legality of meetings among union members. Western countries have labeled the detention of their citizens by the Islamic Republic as 'political hostage-taking' and have repeatedly urged the regime to end this 'oppressive' practice. However, the Islamic Republic continues to detain and imprison Western and dual-national citizens on charges such as 'acting against national security,' dismissing the views of Western parties without providing any evidence. In recent days, several Western and dual-national prisoners have been released through exchanges with Iranian prisoners in other countries, but many, including Siamak Namazi, Ahmadreza Jalali, Jamshid Sharmahd, and Fariba Adelkhah, remain in custody facing heavy prison sentences and death penalties. Other prisoners include Mehran Raouf, an Iranian-British citizen. A few weeks ago, the Islamic Republic executed Habib Asiyoud, a Swedish-Iranian citizen. Kamran Ghaderi, a recently freed dual-national Iranian-Belgian who has returned to Belgium, expressed hope in an interview with the Persian section of Voice of America that other prisoners would also be released.