The chief judge of Semnan province in Iran announced Thursday the “suicide” of a Swiss citizen in a prison in the city.
“This Swiss citizen had been arrested for espionage by security institutions, and there are also documents about this and his case was under investigation and treatment”declared the judicial official, without mentioning the name of Swiss national John Bachet.
The chief judge of Semnan province added: “This Swiss national was detained in a suite with another inmate at Semnan Prison, who this morning asked his co-conspirator to provide him with food from the prison buffet. This prisoner took advantage of the time he spent alone in the suite to commit suicide. »
According to him, prison officials intervened to rescue the prisoner, but their efforts did not bear fruit.
“All the evidence and documents as to the whereabouts of this person have been verified and, according to the documents, this is the suicide of Mohrez”said the chief judge of Semnan province.
Join the Euronews Farsi telegram channel
Iran has a long history of detaining nationals of Western countries for alleged violations of the law or “espionage”. Western countries accuse Tehran of using them as “hostages” and as a pressure tool in negotiations with Western capitals by stopping “arbitrarily” Western nationals. So much so that France recently advised its nationals against traveling to Iran.
The Swiss government, reacting to the news of this “suicide” claims to have been informed by the Iranian authorities of the death and that it is in contact with the competent Iranian authorities to clarify the circumstances of this death. Note that the Swiss embassy in Iran is responsible for protecting American interests in Iran.