Fariba Adelkhah Sent Back to Prison 'for Violating House Arrest Rules'

Fariba Adelkhah, an Iranian-French dual national and prisoner in Iran, violated the rules of her release on an electronic tag and has been sent back to prison, the Iranian judiciary’s deputy head of international affairs has claimed.

"Ms. Adelkhah, whose crimes have been investigated as an Iranian citizen in an independent judicial process, has unfortunately deliberately violated the limits set on her house arrest," Kazem Gharibabadi told reporters on Sunday. “She has insisted on doing so despite several warnings from judicial authorities.”

The comments came after a statement from the French foreign ministry on January 16 raised the alarm about Adelkhah’s condition. Iranian human rights advocates had shared news of her transfer to Evin Prison on Friday, prompting French President Emmanuel Macron to reiterate his demand for her immediate release on Twitter.

Gharibabadi, also the secretary for the Tehran-based “High Council for Human Rights”, went on to blast the jailed academic for what he called “hasty” and “unacceptable” behavior. “We do not consider it justified,” he said.

Adelkhah is a research director at Sciences Po in Paris, which also expressed “indignation and anger” at her return to prison on Friday. She was arrested in June 2019 by IRGC intelligence operatives and initially accused of spying. On May 26, 2020 she was sentenced to six years in prison by Judge Abolghasem Salavati at Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, with the charges changed to “conspiracy against national security" and "propaganda against the regime".

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