TEHRAN \u2013 Shahin Hazamy, a French-Iranian journalist and outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights, became the third Iranian citizen detained in France during the last 18 months for expressing solidarity with Gaza, amid intensifying criticisms that Paris is exploiting counterterrorism measures to target pro-Palestine advocacy.<\/p>\n
His arrest follows the controversial detentions of Mahdieh Esfandiari and Bashir Biazar, said to be part of a systematic campaign to silence dissent and align with the Israeli regime\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n
A squad of 10 masked French security forces violently raided Hazamy\u2019s Paris home on Tuesday, reportedly breaking down doors and arresting him in front of his terrified wife and two young children.<\/p>\n
Witnesses described the operation as resembling a \u201ckidnapping,\u201d with officers ransacking the house and dragging the Iranian citizen away without explanation.<\/p>\n
Hazamy, a freelance journalist known for documenting pro-Palestine protests and the Israeli regime\u2019s war on Gaza, had faced judicial harassment since last year.<\/p>\n
French security forces later charged him with “apologie du terrorisme” (praise of terrorist acts) due to his social media posts, though no formal evidence has been disclosed.<\/p>\n
Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Eslamzadeh, a close associate, revealed that “Shahin\u2019s family had long reported threats from Zionist groups.”<\/p>\n
In an interview with an Iranian news agency, he detailed how, just days before his arrest, Shahin\u2019s video of “a Palestinian mother holding her bloodied child at a Paris rally” went viral, amassing an astonishing “50 million views.”<\/p>\n
Eslamzadeh continued by stressing that “this, coupled with his criticism of France\u2019s illegal detention of Mahdieh Esfandiari, made him a target.” His statement underscores the escalating risks faced by pro-Palestinian activists amidst a climate of intimidation and heavy-handed governmental tactics.<\/p>\n
He also stated that a French judge had granted Hazamy temporary release before his trial, with a court hearing scheduled in two weeks.<\/p>\n
Mahdieh Esfandiari: disappeared, then charged with supporting ‘terrorism’<\/strong><\/p>\n Another incident involves Mahdieh Esfandiari, a 39-year-old Iranian translator and lecturer at Lyon\u2019s Lumi\u00e8re University, who vanished on February 28, after French police stormed her home.<\/p>\n For weeks, her family received no updates until Le Point magazine confirmed her detention at Fresnes Prison near Paris.<\/p>\n Authorities accused her of \u201capologie du terrorisme\u201d for Telegram posts \u201cpraising\u201d Palestinian Resistance\u2019s Al-Aqsa Storm operation, which France claims \u201cincited terrorism.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n Her case mirrors earlier tactics: her home was left in disarray after the raid, and friends needed firefighters to break in when she disappeared.<\/p>\n French prosecutors later linked her arrest to a 2023 report by the National Online Hate Crime Center (PNLH), which flagged her social media activity.<\/p>\n Created in 2021 to combat online hate speech, the PNLH has faced criticism for allegedly suppressing pro-Palestinian activism. It was involved in banning Collectif Palestine Vaincra over unmoderated social media comments and prosecuting trade unionist Anasse Kazib for pro-Palestinian posts.<\/p>\n Esfandiari\u2019s arrest shocked Iran\u2019s diplomatic corps. Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei condemned the \u201cmedieval\u201d treatment, stating: “For over 40 days, Ms. Esfandiari has been held in solitary confinement without consular access or contact with her family. France\u2019s refusal to clarify charges or respect international law is a disgrace.” \u00a0<\/p>\n Vahid Jalalzadeh, Deputy for Consular, Parliamentary, and Iranian Expatriates Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, addressed the ongoing efforts to secure the release of Mahdieh Esfandiari, who has been detained in France over her support for Palestine.<\/p>\n In a post on X on Tuesday, Jalalzadeh stated that he had met with a member of Esfandiari\u2019s family to discuss the situation.<\/p>\n \u201cAs part of my colleagues\u2019 ongoing efforts, I met with a member of Ms. Esfandiari\u2019s family, who has been taken hostage by the French government, claiming to champion freedom of expression, due to her support for the oppressed people of Palestine,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n He further reported that he had provided the family with an update on the Foreign Ministry\u2019s actions and assured them that Iran would continue working toward her release.<\/p>\n Bashir Biazar: Deported for ‘anti-French remarks’<\/strong><\/p>\n Bashir Biazar, a 42-year-old Iranian journalist and former manager at the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), experienced a similar ordeal in June 2024.<\/p>\n Arrested in Dijon, he was held for 28 days in Metz under administrative detention before deportation. French authorities accused him of \u201canti-French remarks\u201d and \u201cpublic incitement\u201d for Instagram posts condemning Israel\u2019s Gaza offensive. \u00a0<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s judiciary condemned his detention as \u201cillegal and a human rights violation,\u201d particularly after French officials blocked his family reunification efforts.<\/p>\n Biazar was released from detention in France in July 2024.<\/p>\n France\u2019s \u2018crackdown culture\u2019 and the politics of silencing dissent<\/strong><\/p>\n The cases of Hazamy, Esfandiari, and Biazar underscore a broader pattern. Under the guise of combating antisemitism, France has conflated anti-Zionism with terrorism, using draconian laws to stifle criticism of Israeli atrocities.<\/p>\n Notably, while France defended Charlie Hebdo\u2019s Islamophobic cartoons as \u201cfree speech,\u201d it prosecutes Muslim and Iranian activists for solidarity with Palestine. \u00a0<\/p>\n In a recent interview with Iranian media, Biazar delivered a scathing critique of Paris\u2019s growing alliance with Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n \u201cFrance has historically had close ties with the Israeli regime,\u201d he asserted, adding that these bonds only intensified since October 2023.<\/p>\n According to Biazar, the French government has since initiated unprecedented crackdowns on pro-Palestinian voices, targeting journalists, students, and professors alike, with \u201cmedieval tactics.\u201d<\/p>\n The Iranian journalist recounted harrowing accounts of arrests, including those of Mahdieh Esfandiari and Shahin Hazami, whose detentions were marked by inhumane measures such as home break-ins by masked officers.<\/p>\n He argued that these oppressive actions were orchestrated not merely to stifle dissent but to control the burgeoning anti-Zionist sentiment across France.<\/p>\n By silencing critics of Israel\u2019s aggressive policies, France, according to Biazar, has essentially turned a blind eye to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.<\/p>\n He further condemned the collusion between French authorities and the Israeli military, suggesting that France\u2019s silence on Israeli actions reveals a disturbing double standard.<\/p>\n Ultimately, instead of suppressing opposition, these measures have only galvanized public outrage and intensified scrutiny of both French and Israeli policies, Biazar concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TEHRAN \u2013 Shahin Hazamy, a French-Iranian journalist and outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights, became the third Iranian citizen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50166,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,36,4582,774,1411,14248],"class_list":{"0":"post-50165","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-france","11":"tag-human-rights","12":"tag-iran","13":"tag-paris","14":"tag-pro-palestine"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}