France – Social Ecologie, January 15, 2025
The French delegation of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group in the European Parliament has secured the inclusion on the agenda of the next plenary session in Strasbourg of an essential debate, followed by an urgent resolution, on Iran’s systematic repression of human rights and hostage diplomacy.
We strongly condemn this shameful practice by the Iranian regime and call for the immediate release of our fellow citizens: Olivier Grondeau, Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris.
After Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, the name of the third French hostage in Iran was revealed on Monday morning. Olivier Grondeau, a lover of Iranian culture, has been held since October 2022 in the sinister Evin prison, on trumped-up charges. Sentenced to five years’ imprisonment without a fair trial, he has appealed from his cell for help and action, and reports intense physical and moral “exhaustion”, which grows worse every day.
Cécile Kohler and her companion Jacques Paris are also enduring inhuman treatment and, according to recent testimonies, their physical and mental condition has seriously deteriorated.
By bringing this debate to the plenary, the European Parliament is sending a clear message to a regime that arbitrarily uses human life for diplomatic purposes: life and liberty are not a bargaining chip, and the fundamental rights of all must be guaranteed.
