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Louis Arnaud, former French hostage in Iran, describes Evin prison as 'the den of evil'

Speaking to Euronews, Louis Arnaud says the memories of Evin Prison continue to haunt him, as he recalls a place where captives are crammed into windowless cells and where the lights never go out.

READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/04/28/louis-arnaud-former-french-hostage-in-iran-describes-evin-prison-as-the-den-of-evil

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Transcript
00:00Cecile Kohler and Jack Paris, the last French hostages officially held by the Iranian regime,
00:07arrived in France on the 8th of April. They returned after three and a half years of imprisonment at
00:12the Evin prison in Tehran, followed by several months of house arrest at the French embassy.
00:18It was also an emotional moment for Louis Arnault, who was formerly imprisoned there from September
00:242022 to June 2024. Arrested six days after Massa Amini's death while he was on a side-scene trip in
00:32Iran,
00:33he was wrongly accused of participating in protests against the death of the 22-year-old woman.
00:38Although they never met, these French nationals were all imprisoned in section 209 of the Evin prison,
00:45reserved for political prisoners and foreigners.
00:48This section 209, c'est l'Entre du Diable. C'est an abattoir, where people are
00:55entassés dans des cellules sans fenêtres, with lights on 24 hours on 24 hours.
01:01We eat, we live, we sleep even on the ground, like an animal. And we go out on a walk
01:09like animals,
01:11like animals, like dogs, with eyes banded once a week to take the air for 30 minutes. And it's all.
01:18And the rest of the time, you are in this cellule or in interrogation,
01:22because all this dishumanization, all this extreme pressure,
01:28which never stops, even in the sleep, is there to force the evidence of fantasmas and espionage.
01:33L'Iran is plunged in a blackout, and the access to Internet is very restreint.
01:38Have you been able to communicate with the Iranians in place?
01:42And have you also been in contact with your former co-deteners?
01:46J'ai gardé le contact avec mes co-deteners, avec mes frères, et il y a un tout petit peu
01:54d'Internet,
01:55mais c'est très difficile d'avoir des nouvelles. Mais surtout, cet Internet est extrêmement contrôlé,
02:00et aujourd'hui il pouvait être arrêté, exécuté, pour un message sur Twitter. Donc je fais extrêmement
02:09attention de ne pas leur poser de questions sur la guerre, sur leur environnement. C'est juste se préoccuper,
02:15d'être humain à être humain, de la manière dont ils se sentent, et de leur dire qu'ils ne
02:20sont pas seuls,
02:21et qu'on parle d'eux ici aussi, aujourd'hui, et que je fais tout ce que je peux pour
02:25porter leur voix.
02:26Sous-titrage ST' 501
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