French academics held in Iran to face Revolutionary Court

Two French academics detained in Iran for six months have lost a bid to be released on bail and their case will now go before the Revolutionary Court, Iranian media reported.

Roland Marchal, a researcher at Sciences Po in Paris, was arrested in June together with Fariba Adelkhah, an academic at the same university. They are accused of espionage.

The judge had decided to release the French academics on bail, as they had been entitled to it after six months in detention, ISNA reported. But this was opposed by the prosecution, and as a result the case was referred to Iran's Revolutionary Court to settle the dispute, their lawyer Saeed Dehghan said.