Flying A Drone Lands French Tourist 8 Years In An Iranian Prison

A 36-year-old Frenchman was sentenced last week by the Iranian court to 8 years in prison for allegedly committing espionage while flying a drone. Benjamin Brière (36) was arrested in 2020 after taking pictures with his hobby drone in the desert near the border between Iran and Turkmenistan. Brière claims he meant no harm and will appeal the ruling.

8 year prison sentence issued to French man for flying a drone

Benjamin Brière was traveling around Iran with his camper. Despite a ban on taking pictures and flying drones at the border with Turkmenistan, he made some aerial shots of himself and his camper. This was to the dissatisfaction of the authorities, who arrested the Frenchman and threw him in jail. That was in May 2020. Since that time, the Frenchman has been detained and a trial has been conducted behind closed doors.

Despite the innocent nature of his holiday snaps, Brière is guilty of taking ‘photos of prohibited areas’, the court said in a ruling. In addition, he had…