ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian authorities released an Austrian man, Tehran’s judiciary announced on Tuesday, who was imprisoned two years ago during nationwide protests in Iran.
Austrian citizen Christian Weber, “who had been imprisoned in West Azerbaijan Province for committing crimes, was released through leniency measures and Islamic compassion,” Mizan Online, the Iranian judiciary’s website, reported.
“The convicted individual was handed over to the Austrian ambassador to facilitate the process of his exit and transfer,” it added.
Weber, 27, was arrested in October 2022, for charges unrelated to the nation-wide protest that erupted in Iran, Vienna announced at the time.
The Austrian government also confirmed Weber’s release.
“I am very pleased that after intensive joint efforts together with my special representative, the Foreign Ministry @MFA_Austria, and the embassy in Tehran, the early release of Christian Weber from Iranian custody has succeeded,” Karl Nehammer, Austrian chancellor, said on X on Tuesday.
Nehammer added their embassy in Tehran is working so Weber can exit the country and return to his family in Austria “as quickly as possible.”
Weber’s release comes two years after Mahsa (Zhina) Amini died while in the custody of Iran’s so-called morality police for wearing a lax hijab. The 22-year-old Kurdish woman’s death triggered nationwide demonstrations, prompting Iranian authorities to crackdown on protesters.
Iranian state media did not report details or information when Weber was arrested in 2022.
Austria's foreign affairs ministry said at the time that one of their citizens had been arrested by Iranian authorities, but that the arrest was not related to the protests.
International rights' watchdogs have criticized freedom of assembly and expression in Iran, as well as due process, fair trials, and prison conditions.
"Iranian authorities’ violations of due process rights and fair trial standards as well as torture and ill-treatment of detainees have been systemic features of the government’s crackdown on anti-government protests," Human Rights Watch stated in its World Report 2024.
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