France/Iran

Fresh hope for Frenchwoman's release

Article published on the 2009-08-11 Latest update 2009-08-11 09:39 TU

Protestors gather during a march on a street in Tehran in this picture uploaded on Twitter on June 20, 2009. De
( Photo: Reuters )

French government spokperson Luc Chatel told radio station RTL that there is "a glimmer of hope," that Clotilde Reiss, will be released soon. She is in prison in Tehran awaiting a verdict after her trial that took place at the weekend with about ten other people. Reiss was charged with spying.

Chatel, who is also Education Minister, said he based his optimism on the "diplomatic contacts and contacts at the highest level" that President Nicolas Sarkozy has had.

Sarkozy has declared the release of Clotilde Reiss a top priority.

"There has been a development," Chatel said, but he did not want to comment further in order "to optimise the chances of success of the negotiations and discussions which are ongoing".

"Clotilde Reiss is innocent" and has been "the victim of a sham trial", he said, echoing the words of French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. "We have demanded and will continue to demand her liberation."

Later in the day, the AFP news agency reported that Iran has proposed that Reiss could await the verdict at the French embassy in Tehran.

Reiss, a university teaching assistant, and French embassy staffer Nazak Afshar, were among defendants tried on charges related to huge protests across Iran after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected in June.

According to the Iranian news agency Irna, the 24-year-old Frenchwoman, admitted in court that she had filed a report on the protests in the city of Isfahan to the cultural department of the French embassy in Tehran.

Kouchner said that she had written up a one-page personal account for a research institute.