Iran jails French man for 8 years on spying charges

PARIS: A court in Iran has sentenced a French man to eight years in jail on spying charges, his Paris-based lawyer said on Tuesday, denouncing his trial as a sham and the accusations as baseless.

Benjamin Briere, 36, who was arrested in May 2020 while travelling in Iran and is currently on hunger strike, was also given an additional eight-month sentence for propaganda against Iran’s Islamic system, his lawyer Philippe Valent said in a statement.

"This verdict is the result of a purely political process that is... devoid of any basis," he said. Slamming the trial, which began on Thursday, as a "masquerade", he added that Briere "did not have a fair trial in front of impartial judges" and noted he had not been allowed to access the full indictment against him.