A 24 year old French native, Clotilde Reiss, flew home to Paris after the Iranian courts swapped her 5 year jail term in exchange for a payment of $285,000 fine – finally they gave her back, her passport and necessary documents and allowed her to leave the country.
Reiss was extremely delighted to see her family after a long time and later on, she was whisked away to see the French President and his wife at the Elysee Palace. Furthermore, Reiss said that she was happy and feeling light as a feather to be back in her own country after such a long and tough time, which she spent in various Iranian jails.
She thanked all those who took part in her rescue, especially the French President and various other officials. The Iranian President said that France should consider a prisoner swap program, if anyone wanted to see Reiss in safe hands. Basically he was referring to the release of two high profile Iranian legal cases in Paris, but well, seems like $285,000 are enough for now.
However, the two prisoners, who were initially demanded by the Iranians, for the release of Clotilde Reiss, were;
- An Iranian, serving life in a French prison for the 1991 murder of an Iranian Prime Minister
- A native Iranian for serving time in French jails because he was accused of stealing some secret equipment from a sensitive department, so that it could be used in a weapons program for Iran.
Reiss was spending time in Iran peacefully as a university teacher but she was arrested when it was time for her to leave the country. Apparently, she was accused of aiding a Western plot to topple Iran’s clerical regime, with several other people.
2 of the arrested prisoners were hanged and rest of them, are awaiting a verdict in Iranian court, but Reiss was lucky enough to pull a couple of strings at the right time.
Related posts:
