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INTERNATIONAL

Supporters call on Iran to release Spanish football fan

Relatives and friends of Spanish football fan Santiago Sánchez, arrested in Iran on his way to the Qatar World Cup, demanded his release during a rally outside Tehran's embassy in Madrid on Sunday.

Published: 19 December 2022 11:56 CET
Santiago Sánchez Cogedor
Sánchez Cogedor had been documenting his journey on Instagram and in his last post on October 1st, he said he was about to enter Iran from a northern Iraqi village. Screenshot: Santiago Sánchez Cogedor/Instagram

“Your family calls for your immediate release,” read a large banner held by several of his relatives, who joined dozens of others for a protest outside the embassy in a residential area.

“My wish for Christmas, of course, is for my son to return. I don’t want (to win) lotteries or anything, I want my son,” Celia Cogedor, Sánchez’s mother, told reporters.

Sánchez left his hometown near Madrid in January, hoping to walk to Qatar in time for the World Cup, which kicked off on November 20th.

He was arrested in early October in Iran after taking a photo of the grave of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Iranian Kurd whose September 16 death sparked weeks of protests in the Islamic republic, his mother said.

READ MORE: Iran arrests Spanish hiker walking to Qatar World Cup

“In no way was it intended to harm the Iran state’s security,” Cogedor said at the rally.

She also said she was able to speak briefly with her son in recent days and learned he was in “good health”.

“We are asking (the Iranian authorities) to realise that he is not a political activist,” said Jose Felix, a 53-year-old friend of Sánchez, holding a banner reading “Freedom for Santiago”.

Several European citizens, including another Spaniard, have been arrested in connection with the protests in Iran.

Amini had been arrested for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women.

Hundreds of people have been killed while thousands of individuals have been detained during the protests in Iran.

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INTERNATIONAL

Iran frees Spanish woman detained since end 2022: Madrid

Iran has released a Spanish woman, Ana Baneira, who had been in detention since November, Spain's foreign minister said on Sunday.

Published: 26 February 2023 14:24 CET
Iran frees Spanish woman detained since end 2022: Madrid

“She was freed yesterday but we didn’t want to announce it publicly before her plane had taken off from Iran,” Jose Manuel Albares told journalists.

“I was able to speak with her… She is well,” he said, adding that Baneira was on her way to her home region of Galicia, in northwestern Spain, following her release on Saturday.

Baneira was 24 years old when she was arrested in November, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) revealed at the time.

The circumstances of her detention were never confirmed by Iranian authorities.

However, it took place amid protests that followed the death in custody of a young Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini.

Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, was arrested by the morality police in September for allegedly violating Iran’s the strict dress code for women.

Her death in hospital three days later triggered widespread outrage.

Another Spanish citizen, football fan Santiago Sanchez Cogedor, has been in detention in Iran since October.

He was arrested while trying to walk to Qatar for the football World Cup.

“Today is a happy day and our happiness will be complete when Santiago is also freed,” said Albares, adding that he would not stop trying to secure Cogedor’s release.

Baneira’s family said they were delighted she had been freed and looked forward to seeing her again “after long weeks of waiting”.

They urged the media to give Baneira space and privacy.

Tehran says hundreds of people have been killed and thousands arrested in connection with the protests, which they generally describe as “riots”.

In late September, the Iranian authorities said they had arrested nine foreigners in relation to the protests, most of them from France, Italy and Poland.

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