July 10, 2009
Iran Jails French Woman for Espionage
(Tehran, Iran) A French woman, Clotilde Reiss, 23, was arrested last week by Iranian police for alleged espionage. Reiss (pic) has been jailed in the notorious Evin prison.
Reiss was a teaching assistant at the University of Isfahan for several months and was detained at the airport as she was preparing to leave the country.
Iranian authorities claim that Reiss took part in the recent election protests and sent an email to a friend in Tehran that contained protest rally information. Sources say Reiss isn't political and she only took pictures of the demonstrations while not participating. Her emails have been portrayed as completely innocent.
The French Foreign Ministry has said the charge of espionage is "absolutely baseless" and demanded that Reiss be released. President Sarkozy also demanded her immediate release in a strongly-worded statement.
