RFL/RE – An Iranian court has sentenced a French-Iranian academic to six years in prison on national-security charges, her lawyer said on May 16.
The lawyer for Fariba Adelkhan told Reuters said he would appeal the ruling, and said, if it was accepted, the sentence could be lowered to five years in prison.
In January, Iran dropped spying charges against Adelkhah but she remained in jail on other security-related charges, her lawyer told Reuters in March.
Adelkhah is a research director at Sciences Po university in Paris and an expert on Iran and Shi’ite Islam.
She was arrested in June 2019 along with fellow researcher Roland Marchal.
Adelkhah was accused of “propaganda against the system” and “colluding to commit acts against national security.”
Marchal, who was accused of “colluding to commit acts against national security,” was allowed to return home to France in March after being released in a prisoner swap between Paris and Tehran.
Iran, which does not recognize dual citizenship, had repeatedly rejected calls from Paris to release the two.
The country has arrested dozens of dual nationals in recent years on alleged espionage charges.