A French court on Thursday sentenced Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari to one year in prison for justifying terrorism in a case linked to a possible prisoner swap with two French citizens held in Iran.The court also handed Esfandiari, 39, was also handed a permanent ban from French territory.Her lawyer said she would be appealing her conviction. In the meantime she walked free from court.Iran has suggested Esfandiari could be exchanged for French nationals Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who are still waiting to leave Iran.She was arrested in France last year over comments she made on social media, including on Palestinian militant group Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.Esfandiari was sentenced to four years, of which three are suspended, the judge said, citing “the nature of the acts and their seriousness”.”The court also issues a permanent ban from the national territory,” the judge added. The court ordered Esfandiari be placed on the list of individuals convicted of terrorism. Four men were also convicted in the case.”There has been talk from the outset of this so-called ‘exchange’ which must take place between our compatriots and Mme Esfandiari,” said her lawyer Nabil Boudi.”If the court has handed down such a severe sentence on the basis of diplomatic considerations, the court has committed an error,” he added. “We will appeal.” – ‘We take note’ – The outcome of the legal process is eagerly awaited by relatives of Kohler and Paris as tensions rage over Iran’s nuclear programme, with the United States threatening military action.”We take note of this court decision and the appeal, but I have no comment to make on the consequences of the judgment,” French foreign ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux told reporters.Arrested in Iran in May 2022, Kohler and Paris were freed in November after more than three years in prison on espionage charges their families vehemently deny.They were taken by French diplomats to France’s mission in Tehran, where they live now.”They are well. They are safe,” Confavreux told AFP on Wednesday.When asked whether Esfandiari intended to remain in France for the duration of the appeal proceedings, which could have consequences for the exchange, her lawyer said: “We’ll see, I don’t have an answer.”Esfandiari was released after some eight months in pre-trial detention in October, and her trial began in January. The prosecutor had requested a four-year jail term, including three years suspended, for Esfandiari, but said it would not be necessary for her to be reincarcerated.The Iranian authorities have expressed their wish to exchange Esfandiari for the two French citizens once the legal proceedings in France have finished.The French government has neither confirmed nor denied the existence of a potential exchange deal.France has described Kohler and Paris as “state hostages” taken by Tehran in a bid to extract concessions. They were convicted on espionage charges their families have always condemned as fabricated.Esfandiari has condoned Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.”It’s not an act of terrorism, it’s an act of resistance,” she has said.In November, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a potential exchange between Tehran and Paris “had been negotiated”.”Everything is ready,” he added.
A French court on Thursday sentenced Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari to one year in prison for justifying terrorism in a case linked to a possible prisoner swap with two French citizens held in Iran.The court also handed Esfandiari, 39, was also handed a permanent ban from French territory.Her lawyer said she would be appealing her conviction. In the meantime she walked free from court.Iran has suggested Esfandiari could be exchanged for French nationals Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who are still waiting to leave Iran.She was arrested in France last year over comments she made on social media, including on Palestinian militant group Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.Esfandiari was sentenced to four years, of which three are suspended, the judge said, citing “the nature of the acts and their seriousness”.”The court also issues a permanent ban from the national territory,” the judge added. The court ordered Esfandiari be placed on the list of individuals convicted of terrorism. Four men were also convicted in the case.”There has been talk from the outset of this so-called ‘exchange’ which must take place between our compatriots and Mme Esfandiari,” said her lawyer Nabil Boudi.”If the court has handed down such a severe sentence on the basis of diplomatic considerations, the court has committed an error,” he added. “We will appeal.” – ‘We take note’ – The outcome of the legal process is eagerly awaited by relatives of Kohler and Paris as tensions rage over Iran’s nuclear programme, with the United States threatening military action.”We take note of this court decision and the appeal, but I have no comment to make on the consequences of the judgment,” French foreign ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux told reporters.Arrested in Iran in May 2022, Kohler and Paris were freed in November after more than three years in prison on espionage charges their families vehemently deny.They were taken by French diplomats to France’s mission in Tehran, where they live now.”They are well. They are safe,” Confavreux told AFP on Wednesday.When asked whether Esfandiari intended to remain in France for the duration of the appeal proceedings, which could have consequences for the exchange, her lawyer said: “We’ll see, I don’t have an answer.”Esfandiari was released after some eight months in pre-trial detention in October, and her trial began in January. The prosecutor had requested a four-year jail term, including three years suspended, for Esfandiari, but said it would not be necessary for her to be reincarcerated.The Iranian authorities have expressed their wish to exchange Esfandiari for the two French citizens once the legal proceedings in France have finished.The French government has neither confirmed nor denied the existence of a potential exchange deal.France has described Kohler and Paris as “state hostages” taken by Tehran in a bid to extract concessions. They were convicted on espionage charges their families have always condemned as fabricated.Esfandiari has condoned Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.”It’s not an act of terrorism, it’s an act of resistance,” she has said.In November, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a potential exchange between Tehran and Paris “had been negotiated”.”Everything is ready,” he added.
