French student who was detained in Tunisia returns to Paris

A French student who spent weeks detained in Tunisia returned to Paris on November 15th following diplomatic discussions, according to the Arab News via AP.

27-year old Victor Dupont was completing a PhD at Aix-Marseille University’s Institute of Research and Study on the Arab and Islamic World, researching social movements, youth unemployment and Tunisia’s 2011 revolution, when he was detained back in October.

The arrest garnered international attention due to his nationality and the fact that he was not known as a government critic.

“Obviously, we welcome this outcome for him and, most of all, we welcome that he is able to reunite with his loved ones here in France,” French Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said.

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He announced the release at a ministry news briefing on November 15th, saying that Dupont was freed on November 12th from prison and returned three days later back to France.

AP was told in October by a committee set up to advocate for his release that he and some friends were detained by his home, then taken to be questioned at a police station. He was later taken into custody lone and taken to a military court in Le Kef, while the others were released.

A letter to Tunisia’s Ministry of Higher Educations and president Saied from groups representing French, Italian and British academics who work in the region said that the government of Tunisia had approved Dupont’s research and that the allegations against him “lack both founding and credibility.”

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“We therefore condemn the extraordinary use of the military court system,” they wrote on November 12th.

Arab News