Free Cecile Kohler, French hostage in Iran | Pod Hostage Diplomacy

Free Cecile Kohler, French hostage in Iran

SPEAKERS

Noemie Kohler, Daren Nair

Daren Nair  00:05

Welcome to Pod Hostage Diplomacy. We work to free hostages and the unjustly detained around the world. Together with their families, we share their stories and let you know how you can help bring them home.

Elizabeth Whelan  00:18

Now when it comes to using the family to get... for Russia to get what they want, if that's the case, they've picked the wrong family, because I'm not going to carry water for the Russian authorities.

Daren Nair  00:28

These are some of the most courageous and resilient people among us.

Mariam Claren  00:32

I never thought that my mother, Nahid Taghavi, will ever have a link to negotiations in Vienna about the JCPOA. That's so crazy.

Daren Nair  00:43

People who have never given up hope.

Paula Reed  00:46

Trevor told his girlfriend to tell me to... to be strong. So, I'm trying to be strong for Trevor.

Joey Reed  00:50

 You know, if Trevor can cope with what he's dealing with...

Paula Reed  00:53

Exactly. 

Joey Reed  00:53

We can sure cope with the stress.

Daren Nair  00:55

People who will never stop working to reunite their families. 

Joey Reed  01:00

We'd like to meet with the President. We believe that, you know, he has... he's surrounded by lots of experienced and educated advisors, but I don't believe that any of them have ever had a child taken hostage by a foreign country, especially not a superpower like Russia.

Daren Nair  01:15

And we'll be right there by their side until their loved one comes back home.

Richard Ratcliffe  01:20

Because if enough people care, then the right people will care enough.

Daren Nair  01:24

I'm Daren Nair, and I've been campaigning with many of these families for years. When I first started campaigning with these families, I noticed they struggled to get the media attention they needed. So, I decided to create this podcast, which is a safe space for the families to speak as long as they need to about their loved ones, and what needs to be done to bring them home.

Mariam Claren  01:45

Nobody can prepare you for what our family is going through. Even if someone had told me one year before, "in one year, this is going to happen, prepare yourself." That's impossible.

Daren Nair  01:59

Thank you for listening, and welcome to Pod Hostage Diplomacy. Welcome to Pod Hostage Diplomacy. French citizen, Cecile Kohler, has been wrongfully imprisoned in Iran since 7 May 2022. She and her partner, Jacques Paris, were both arrested on their way to the airport after visiting Iran as tourists and have been held in Iran since. The French government has referred to them as state hostages. In October 2022, both Cecile and Jacques were made to deliver false confessions, which were aired on Iranian state media. This is sadly a common practice in Iran, as the regime is notorious for arresting innocent foreign nationals on trumped up charges, placing them in solitary confinement, interrogating them for hours, depriving them of access to legal counsel and medication, as well as forcing them to confess to things that they didn't do. After all that, they are then sentenced to years in prison in a sham trial for a crime they didn't commit. In response to these false confessions, the French Foreign Ministry released the following statement on 6 October 2022. "Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris have been arbitrarily detained in Iran since May 2022, and can therefore be considered state hostages. France reiterates its demand for their immediate release. We demand immediate, unconditional access to our two compatriots in accordance with the international obligations to which Iran subscribed under the Vienna Convention of April 24, 1963. The staging of their supposed confessions is unworthy, repugnant, unacceptable, and contrary to international law. This farce reveals the Iranian authorities' contempt for human dignity. These supposed confessions, extorted under duress, have no basis in fact, any more than do the reasons given for the arbitrary arrest. France vigorously condemns the Iranian regime's inhumane, unworthy treatment of our compatriots. We hold the Iranian authorities responsible for their fate and their treatment, and for that of all French nationals currently being detained arbitrarily in Iran. Such manipulation and practices, worthy of the show trials of the worst dictatorial regimes, will not deflect international attention from the legitimate aspirations of the Iranian people. The French authorities remain wholeheartedly committed to obtaining their release and providing support for their families and loved ones." That was a statement from the French Foreign Ministry. Today, we have the honour of speaking to Cecile Kohler's sister, Noemie Kohler, who is speaking to us from France. Noemie, we're so sorry for what you, your sister, Jacques, and your family are going through. Thank you for taking the time to speak to us today.

Noemie Kohler  05:06

Thank you very much for receiving me.

Daren Nair  05:09

You're very welcome. So, first of all, can you please walk us through your sister's background and why she went to Iran? 

Noemie Kohler  05:16

Yes, my sister, Cecile, was 37 when she went to Iran. She is a French teacher and unionist. She has been dreaming of visiting Iran for, I don't know, like 15 years, something like this. She went to Iran for the first time with her partner, Jacques Paris, and... and it was the first time. She was very happy, very glad to be in Iran. She... she was sending us pictures of her trip all the day, every day, and she was very happy. She was supposed to stay there for ten days during vacation from, I mean, school holidays, you know, French school holidays. And she was supposed to stay for ten days. But at the end of her trip, she and her partner were arrested. And so, from then, they are in Iran, in prison.

Daren Nair  06:35

Sorry to hear that, Noemie. What happened from the moment of your sister's arrest, as in when and how did you find out she was arrested? And what did you and your family do next? 

Noemie Kohler  06:48

Well, the last WhatsApp connection of her phone was the 6th of May of 2002 [*2022]. And we didn't get any news from then. And... and after the weekend, we were very concerned. And we had a message, a call from her colleagues, saying that she didn't go back to work. So, we were very concerned. My parents called the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then they got the confirmation that she was arrested.

Daren Nair  07:27

So, what did you do next, once they confirmed that she was arrested?

Noemie Kohler  07:32

Well, we were very concerned. And we... we was... we were... we were waiting for... for news, for... for information. And during several months, actually, we didn't get nothing. At the beginning, the Foreign... the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told us, "we are trying to... to locate them, to know where they are. So, it's just a question of days or weeks." But we... we... we just... the time was passing by, months were passing by, and we didn't have any news. But they advised us to keep silent, to keep quiet. So, we did. We did so.

Daren Nair  08:29

What was it like when you saw your sister and Jacques's forced confession on Iranian state media? We know the French government were outraged and released a statement, which I read in the monologue. What did you and your family do?

Noemie Kohler  08:44

It was... It was horrible. It was a terrible shock. It was a huge, huge shock, because as I told you, we... we just went through five months, five long months, without having any news from them. And the first time we... we had a sign of life, it was this video. It was a nightmare. It was very, very hard, because we... we understood immediately what... what was going on. I read a lot of testimonies from other hostages, and I knew this was something... this was to say that I knew things like that could happen to hostages and prisoners. So, I immediately understood it was a false confession. She was forced to make it, and she was saying things at the opposite of her fundamental values. It was very, very hard because we... we were imaginating all the psychological pressure she... she must have experienced to have to confess false... to make false confessions. So, it was... it broke us, literally, it broke us. The day before, I got in touch with the daughter of another European hostage that you know, Nahid Taghavi. So, his... or her daughter is Mariam Claren. And it was her who sent me the video, the link from the video, the morning of the 6th of October. And thanks to her, we could be informed of this false confession video a few hours before it was released in the French newspaper, French news. So, it was great... It was a good thing for me and my family, because I could inform them and inform Jacques's family thanks to Mariam. And then, after this false confession video, we decided to talk in the medias, because keeping silent didn't make any sense anymore, because they were exposed. And we needed to... we need to... we needed to... to make contact with my sister, because we didn't know how she was. And we were very, very scared. And we we needed to... to... to tell her that we... we were fighting for her. We are... we were worried about her, because we know one of the... one of the... the argument of the... not... not argument in English, but the... one of the... the way of putting pressure on the hostages is telling them, "you're alone. Nobody cares about you. Nobody's fighting for you, or nobody knows where you are." And it was very important for us... us to try to make contact with my sister and to send... send her messages of support. So, that's the first reason why we... we wanted to talk. Even if it was very illusional, I think, but we had to try. And also we needed to... to defend her, to defend her image, to mobilise people, to make them aware of the situation, to make them aware of the gravity of the situation my sister and Jacques were going through. That's why the 22nd of November, we gave a press conference, where we announced the creation of a support committee for my sister. And I don't know if it's... I don't know if it's changed or what, but the day after, my sister and Jacques had, well, the day after, my sister had her first consular visit, first and only so far, consular visit.

Daren Nair  13:35

You're absolutely right. One of the things the interrogators try to do is convince the hostages that they're all alone, that people have forgotten them. I think Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post reporter, the American, who was held hostage in Iran for 544 days, he was told by the interrogators that they told the family and everyone else that he and his wife, Yeganeh Rezaian, who was also held hostage, died in a car accident, and, "nobody's coming for you. Nobody knows you're here." So, they try to break them. And it's very important for the hostages to know that they're not forgotten, that someone outside there fighting for their release. So, you're absolutely right. You mentioned that you created this support committee for your sister and Jacques. Now, this support committee is something that's unique to France. I really like this concept. It's a group that campaigns for the hostage's release, but it's separate from the family in a way. In some cases, it's separate from the family, like Fariba Adelkhah, the French academic, who's been held in Iran, does have a support committee for her. It's intentionally separate from the family. So, if the French Foreign Ministry tries to put pressure on the family, or the hostage-taking state tries to put pressure on the family to keep quiet, they maintain this plausible deniability that, "well, this is not our support committee. These are colleagues and supporters and other people." So, I really like this concept of support committee that the French have. And I... I think it's worth exploring implementing this for other countries as well. You mentioned Mariam Claren. She is the daughter of German citizen, Nahid Taghavi, who has been held hostage in Iran since 16 October 2020. I interviewed her many times on this podcast, and most recently, a few weeks ago. So, thank you for that. And I also understand why you kept quiet at the request of the French Foreign Ministry. Many families do this, and they give their government a chance to secure the release of their loved one. And then, after a few months, if they don't see any progress, or as you said, you saw them being forced to confess to something they didn't do, then you go public. That's kind of the standard procedure families follow, most of them. I know in Mariam's case, she went public immediately, because she noticed what happened to the other hostages. So, we understand that your sister has been held in solitary confinement. Can you tell us more about this? What are the conditions of her cell? Which prison is she being held in? And I note that you don't have all the information, because you have limited contact with her. I know you've had one consular visit. The French government has been able to visit her once. But do you have any information on where she's being held and the conditions?

Noemie Kohler  16:38

Solitary confinement was one of our biggest fears, because I read it also in former hostages' testimonies that it was something that was very frequent, and... and during the first consular visit, and the only one so far, she told us... she told the Ambassador that she had been held in solitary confinement for three months, at least. And now we know she's in Evin... Evin prison. She is in the Section 209. She has cellmates, two or three or four, it changes all the time. We know she... she can go out in the prison... prison yard three times a week. We also know she had one book since she got arrested. So, in 10 months, she had only one book. And we know... that's what we know, so far. We know she... she don't have many news from Jacques. And it's very hard for her, and actually, it is very hard for... for us to have real accurate information, because we had two phone calls with her from the beginning. So, my parents got two phone calls with her. And during the two phone calls, she was under surveillance, and she couldn't speak freely. And every time my father asked her about her condition of detention, she... she's very... she give answer very unclear. So, we don't have many details about what she's going... what she's living. 

Daren Nair  18:51

Again. I'm sorry to hear that. Do you have any idea how your sister is coping physically or mentally at the moment, either from the conversations you've had, or what you've heard from the French officials who visited her?

Noemie Kohler  19:08

She's very tired. The first time we had a phone call from her, she was crying almost all... during all the call, because I think it was very strong for her and for us to have this first phone call, because it was the first contact we had with her in seven months. So, it was really, really strong. And she has a second phone call. She was very worried, worried about my parents. So, she made a great effort to reassure them about her health and all she was doing, but we can feel it's very difficult for her. It's very difficult. So, I know she's a strong person. She's very tough. So, we try to... to... we try to keep that in mind and to... to know that she's fighting. And... and we... we are looking forward to having more news about her and more information and more accurate information.

Daren Nair  20:24

Has your sister been able to speak to a lawyer? And, if so, is this an independent lawyer or an Iranian regime-appointed lawyer?

Noemie Kohler  20:34

So far, as I know, as we know, she can't... she couldn't be reached by the lawyer we hired for her. So, the... I think the... the answer is no.

Daren Nair  20:50

Is your sister still awaiting trial at the moment? 

Noemie Kohler  20:53

Yes. Once again, we don't have any information about that. We don't know when, where it could happen.

Daren Nair  21:02

Okay. I've interviewed many family members of hostages and wrongful detainees. Many of them go through the same trauma. This is one of the worst periods of their life. Feels like their life is on hold. Every time they wake up, they think about what they need to do today to free their loved one. And every day when they go to bed, they wonder if they did enough to free their loved one. They think about their loved one every time they eat. Is she getting enough food in prison? They stopped spending time with friends. They feel guilty every time they rest. What is it like for you? How have you been coping with this trauma? And what is it been like for your family?

Noemie Kohler  21:40

Our life has completely changed. It's not the same anymore. It's like if there were... It's like if there was a lag between us and the rest of the people and the normal life. We don't have a normal life anymore. We are, as you say, we are thinking... thinking about it when we wake up, when we go to bed, every time of the day. We are always searching the news, the last news about Iran, several... several times a day. I didn't know Twitter before that. And now I'm always on Twitter. I'm passing my life, spending my life on Twitter, because I'm always looking for some... something, some information. We are sad. We are afraid all the time. We are... we don't know what she's... where she's sleeping, if she sleeps... sleeping on bed or... or something else. We don't know... we don't know if she... what she is eating. It's very, very difficult for... for... for us, and she misses us... she misses us so much. And I don't know what I was... Yes, we weren't prepared to... to live something like this. We... I... I couldn't imagine I would have something so this hard to live one day. And I just want... I just want her to come... to come back. It's very.... I... I miss her so much. And yes, it's hard for me and my family.

Daren Nair  23:43

I'm so sorry for you, your sister and your family. The one silver lining, I guess, is that many families say an experience like this brings their family closer together, and their love for each other becomes stronger as a result. Now, you have recently started campaigning publicly to free your sister. As you mentioned previously, you've created the support committee. Can you tell us more about what you've done so far on the campaigning front? Because I know you attended a rally with other families of French hostages in January. Can you tell us more about that and what else you've done on the campaigning front?

Noemie Kohler  24:25

The idea of the rally was when we... when we created the support committee, we started to contact other families and community and support committees. And that's when we... we contacted Blandine Briere and also some people from the support committee of Fariba Adelkhah and together, we... we started to organise this rally in Paris. It was very important for... for us, because they are, they were seven French hostages. And we... we knew, if we... if we were doing this together, it will be stronger and maybe more powerful. And that was very, very nice to organise, because it's also created bonds between us. And there was a lot of people on this rally, so it was... it was good for us, and medias were interested, also. So, we had a good coverage, media coverage. And we are willing to make... to organise other events like this, maybe on a European level with other European families. We... we are trying to organise all this stuff. It's quite difficult, because everyone is struggling with his own situation. And we are trying to get them on the same line. But that's yes, it's... it's... it's important for us and for on our... our side, we also try to put, you know, banners in the city with a picture of Cecile. We try to communicate every time we can in.... in... in our... our region of origin, so Alsace, because we are from Alsace, in France. We are trying to make a lot of local events. For example, this weekend, we are organising a weekend of concerts in our city of origin. And yes, thing like that, and we have the website, we have to work better, because for the moment, it's quite quiet. And that's what we... we do.

Daren Nair  27:25

That's very good. Good work doing that. Now, for our listeners, when Noemie mentioned this weekend, by the time this episode comes out, it'll be last weekend.  We're recording this one week prior to the episode being published. And you also mentioned Blandine Briere and the Free Fariba Support Committee. So, on this podcast, we've interviewed Blandine Briere, who is the sister of French hostage in Iran, Benjamin Briere. He's been held since May 2020. He was recently acquitted of all charges, but he's still being imprisoned in Iran. And that just proves that he's a hostage. In terms of Fariba Adelkhah's case, she's a French academic, who has been wrongfully imprisoned in Iran since 5th of June 2019. We've interviewed her colleague, Sandrine Perrot, on this podcast. She was recently released from Evin prison, but the circumstances of her release are not clear. We don't know if she can leave the country and come back home to France to be reunited with her family. So, if you want to learn more about these cases, feel free to listen to these episodes, wherever you get your podcasts or on our website at podhostagediplomacy.com. Now, Noemie, what should the Iranian regime do? I know, in many cases, your pleas may fall on deaf ears, but what should they do?

Noemie Kohler  27:30

OK. To release all the hostages, but also ensure the rights of the hostages. For example, in the case of my sister, normally she... she should have one consular visit per month, and now she spent 10 months in jail, and she only had one consular visit of 10 minutes under high surveillance, too. She must have more contact with her family. For the moment, we had only two phone call from her in 10 months. She must have books. For the moment, she has only one book, and we sent her a lot of books or so she... she might have them. She... she should have news from Jacques, too. She should have some contacts with him. It's very important and... and release her, because she's innocent.

Daren Nair  30:01

Now, what should the French government do?

Noemie Kohler  30:03

Well, I... I'm not a diplomat or a politician. So, they have to do what it takes to... to get the hostages free. I know she... I know they are working very hard for the hostages, but in the case of Benjamin, for example, he spent almost three years in prison. It's very long, it's very long, it takes too long, and my sister almost one year, and it's... it's too long, so to do whatever it takes to... to get the hostages free.

Daren Nair  30:45

Now, what should the European Union do? Because you mentioned earlier that you may do an event with the families of other Europeans held hostage in Iran. So, what should the European Union do?

Noemie Kohler  31:01

Well, there... there are a lot of European hostages, so it's not only France's problem. It's also Germany, Austria, Spain, Sweden and so on. And I think all these country have weights, and if they are together, they are... they are even stronger. So, maybe work together to stop... to stop this... this hostage-taking, and... and... and take strong actions to... to solve the situation. 

Daren Nair  31:41

You're absolutely right. So, I've seen members of European Parliament put forward questions to the leadership of the European Union, asking for a EU-wide approach to bringing hostages held in Iran back home. As you said, there are French hostages so there's your... Cecile, your sister, Cecile, and Jacques, Benjamin Briere, Fariba Adelkhah, Louis Arnaud. We don't know who the other hostages are from France. I know... Sorry...

Noemie Kohler  32:12

Did you say Bernard? Bernard Phelan?

Daren Nair  32:15

Oh, yes. And Ber... Bernard Phelan, who is the French-Irish hostage as well. Yes? And I know Britain isn't really in the EU anymore. But there's Mehran Raoof and Morad Tahbaz from Britain. Morad Tahbaz is both American and British. They're being held hostage in Iran, too. In Germany, there is Nahid Taghavi and Jamshid Shamahd. Jamshid Sharmahd is a US resident. Jamshid was recently sentenced to death. In Austria, there's Kamran Ghaderi and Massud Mossaheb. In Sweden, there's Ahmadreza Djalali. There's someone else as well. Forgive me, I don't know his name. And from Belgium, there's Olivier Vandecasteele, and I'm sure there are other hostages who have been taken. I noticed at least another Austrian hostage, his case it hasn't been made public. In Spain, yes, there's Santiago Sanchez. So, there are many EU citizens held hostage in Iran. And even though I haven't said many names, the reason is, other families tend to keep quiet. So, these are the publicly known cases. And you're absolutely right. The European Union needs to work together, because you have a lot more bargaining power, a lot more leverage over Iran. Now, you have been getting some good media coverage. But obviously, the more media coverage you get, the better. It's important to keep her name in the media. This helps raise awareness of your sister's plight, and it keeps the pressure up on the French government to work to free your sister and the other hostages held in Iran. So, what can journalists and news outlets do more to help?

Noemie Kohler  34:09

Well, the help of journalists and media outlets is very, very important for us. So, when they talk about the hostages, they are like, you know, the only... the only way we have to... to do something to act as family, families and friends and support committees is communication, and thanks to journalists and media outlets, our voices are louder. So, it's very important for... it's very important for us to... to get this help. And it's very nice, because we are very scared as family to... to communicate and where... when we start, we are terrified. And we think journalist will be, I don't know, maybe seek information, and we will have to protect ourselves from that. What I experienced, and many other family tell... tell me, they experienced the same, is that journalists are very, very nice, very understandable. They're... they have many empathy for us, and their help is very thankful. We are very thankful of their help. So, continue, keep telling our messages, and that's very important.

Daren Nair  35:54

What can members of the public do to help bring your sister home?

Noemie Kohler  35:59

Members of the public? You... you mean people in general?

Daren Nair  36:04

Yes. So, if I'm... if I live in France...

Noemie Kohler  36:07

Okay.

Daren Nair  36:07

I'm a regular French citizen. What can I do to help bring your sister home? I... I assume it will be writing to my politicians, and asking them, "what are you doing to bring Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris home?"

Noemie Kohler  36:23

Yes, that's right. 

Daren Nair  36:25

Yes. So, what else can they do?

Noemie Kohler  36:30

They can talk about the hostages, talk about my sister. They can share on social medias. They can join us for rallies, because the more... the more we are, the more...  it's... it's important. And, yes, talk about it more and more, because it's very important that people is aware about this situation, about the gravity of this situation. And, yes, make... make people aware about this.

Daren Nair  37:10

So, if people want to get more information on your campaign, and keep up to date with what you're doing, what's the best way for them to do that?

Noemie Kohler  37:19

We, as I... as I mentioned before, we have a website, libertepourcecile.com, and also a Twitter account, Liberte pour Cecile (@FreeCecile_), so they can follow us. And we have some communique, don't know what to say in English. So, press releases, that we publish on the website, so they can have all the step of the situation of my sister from the creation of the support committee.

Daren Nair  37:58

So, for our listeners, if you check out the description of this podcast episode, wherever you're listening to it, if it is on our website, or on your podcast app, we have a further information section, where you can find the website address and the Twitter account URL as well. So, feel free to check that out and follow, and you can get up to date information on the campaign to free Cecile. So, Noemie, we're almost at the end of our interview. Is there anything else you'd like to mention?

Noemie Kohler  38:30

Yes, I would like to thank all the people that help us from the beginning. And also, all the people that send us support messages, it's very important for us. And also specially... I will especially thank all the people that advise, that give me advice from the beginning. So, families of other hostages, former hostages, journalists, and because we are lost, and we are the... we are in the dark, and all of this person are like, you know, little lanterns on the path. And that includes you, Daren. So, thank you very much.

Daren Nair  39:19

You're very welcome. It's an honour to help. So, Noemie, we'll be campaigning right by your side until your sister comes back home. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us today.

Noemie Kohler  39:30

Thank you.

Daren Nair  39:36

Thank you for listening to Pod Hostage Diplomacy. Thank you for giving your time and for showing these families that they're not alone, that there are good, caring people out there, willing to stand by their side and help in any way possible.

Richard Ratcliffe  39:51

Because if enough people care, then the right people will care enough. This is a basic rule of thumb that is true for all campaigning.

Daren Nair  39:59

If you haven't already, please subscribe to our fortnightly newsletter called The Hostage Briefing. It's the best way to keep up to date with the cases we're working on as well as new episodes. You can subscribe to this newsletter using the link in the description of this podcast episode that you're currently listening to. Thanks again and take care.