Clotilde Reiss seems one of those rare, wonderful people who fall in love with a country at a young age and revel in the beauty of the language, culture and society for the rest of their lives.
First introduced to Iran by her Iranian nanny in Paris, Clotilde built upon her knowledge of Persian to become a fellow at the French Research Institute in Tehran, and most recently, a French teacher at a university in the city of Esfahan.
Residing in the Jolfa district, she bedecked her apartment with Persian rugs and became a favourite with her neighbours, who adopted her as one of their own.
On July 1, en route to her departure to Beirut, 23-year-old Clotilde disappeared.
Confirmation has since been given that she is currently held in Evin prison on charges of espionage.
As would be expected, Clotilde participated in the recent demonstrations and – as one would – she subsequently accounted her experiences via e-mails and texts ameliorated by cellphone snapshots.
The crux of her detention hangs on one particular e-mail to a journalist in Tehran, though it has been deemed a “straightforward” account of events.
Despite Sarkozy’s heavy leaning on Iran, there has been no progress on her case.
At present, Clotilde is but one of many foreign nationals being detained: the Iranian Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari, a freelance correspondent for Newsweek, and Hossein Rassam, a prominent political analyst at the British Embassy in Tehran, both remain imprisoned.
The riots have quietened, yet the injustice pervades.
I wonder how many innocent Iranians are also languishing in jail on trumped up charges; when the details are released it is questionable whether they will even reflect the true scale of detentions.
Such is the smaze of political unrest under a despotic regime: the reality is often inconceivably worse.
I’m from Iran. I’m sorry about illegal Government of Ahmadinejad.
On the first of July, Clotilde Reiss was not on her way to Beirut, but to France. And she did not disappear, she was arrested at Teheran airport before taking her flight to France.
Then, she did not participate to the demonstrations but just took some pictures of the riots with her mobile phone.
Also, she did not send any email to a journalist. She sent just an email and only to some of her relatives in France ; in that email, she was talking about the riots and there were the pictures she had taken previously with her mobile.
Be fully informed before writing an article !
Thanks for the clarification; inconsistencies courtesy of French media.
‘as would be expected Clotilde participated in the recent demonstrations’…
as would be expected – why expected?
Is she jewish? Is that a jewish name?
‘As would be expected’ is in reference to her intense interest in Iranian culture and life.
Otherwise, I am struggling to see how the final two questions are relevant.