Ambassador handed over

Austrian imprisoned in Iran is free again

Christian Weber

(Bild: OpenPetition)

Austrian Christian Weber was falsely accused of espionage in Iran. He had to eke out his existence under unimaginable prison conditions. After more than two years of martyrdom, he is now free.

The Iranian authorities had handed over the Austrian citizen Christian Weber, who had been imprisoned for crimes in the Iranian province of West Azerbaijan, to the Austrian ambassador in Tehran, Wolf Dietrich Heim, according to the Iranian justice portal Mizan.

According to a parliamentary question submitted by FPÖ National Council member Martin Graf to Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) in December of the previous year, Weber was "abducted and detained in the Iranian state police prison in Urum in northern Iran" on August 25, 2022, at the age of 27, shortly after crossing the Iranian border. Allegations of espionage, which the Somali secret service had allegedly transmitted, turned out to be false. Nevertheless, Christian Weber has now been in custody for almost a year and a half, ... (currently in Maku prison - also in northern Iran)," the request said. Instead of the dropped charges, Weber is now accused of carrying dangerous weapons, Graf wrote at the time.

Dreadful prison conditions 
According to the inquiry, a vigil was held for Weber and an online petition was launched and addressed to the Austrian parliament. In it, the signatories call on "the responsible authorities in the Foreign Ministry to exhaust all diplomatic possibilities to achieve the release of the Austrian, who is being held as a political prisoner". The family is worried. The petition continues: "The prison conditions in Iran are not comparable to those in Austria: he sleeps in a room with 48 other detainees, without a mattress for the first six months, and complains of back pain. Although the verdict that he was a spy for the USA and Great Britain has now been dropped, he is still there and will not be deported."

According to Mizan, Weber was released under the principle of "Islamic clemency". He was handed over to Ambassador Heim so that he could leave Iran. Mizan did not provide any information on the official accusations against Weber.