"The freedom of Bashir Biazar, who was illegally detained in France, is joyful news," Kazem Gharibabadi, secretary of Iran's High Council for Human Rights, said in a message posted on X on Wednesday.
"I extend my congratulations on his freedom to his spouse and children. The diplomatic, legal, and judicial efforts in support of Iranians living abroad continue as a fundamental principle," he wrote.
Biazar, a former production manager at the Music and Song Department of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), was detained by French police early in June.
French authorities accused him of promoting “anti-Zionism and anti-Americanism” over his social media posts in support of the Palestinians in Gaza. He was held in detention for weeks even though a judge had ordered him to leave France.
In a separate development, Gharibabadi criticized the British government for refusing to pardon and repatriate an Iranian Christian national imprisoned in the UK.
In a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gharibabadi pointed out that Richard John, who has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a UK court, had renounced his British citizenship in the hope of being released from prison and returning to Iran.
However, the Parole Board of the UK Ministry of Justice has continued to oppose his pardon and deportation, he said.
Gharibabadi also noted that John has not been granted a single day of furlough over the past 20 years, and British authorities have even blocked his transfer to a specialized protected hospital for medical treatment.
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