Louis Arnaud, former French hostage in Iran, describes Evin prison as 'the den of evil'

Frenchman Louis Arnaud spent 2 years down bars wrong Tehran's Evin prison, a spot notorious for torture and executions, pursuing his apprehension by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) connected 28 September 2022.

Recounting his experiences successful an interrogation with Euronews, helium remembered a spot helium described arsenic "the den of evil," stressing the exceptionally inhumane conditions wrong conception 209, the artifact which houses governmental and overseas prisoners.

Aged 35 astatine the clip of his incarceration, Arnaud's round-the-world travel was chopped abbreviated erstwhile helium was accused of taking portion successful the wide protests that broke retired against the decease of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian pistillate who died successful constabulary custody, aft being arrested for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly.

Arnaud has ever maintained his innocence.

The memories of Evin situation proceed to haunt Arnaud, arsenic helium recalls a spot wherever captives are crammed into windowless cells and wherever the lights ne'er spell out.

"The lights dissolve immoderate conception of clip passing; they perpetually hunt your body. In your cell, there's nothing; it's devoid of everything. You eat, you live, you slumber connected the floor. They took america retired for a locomotion similar animals erstwhile a week, blindfolded, to get 20 minutes of caller aerial and that's it," Arnaud told Euronews.

A torture designed to intensify intelligence unit connected detainees, "all this dehumanisation and utmost unit successful situation ne'er stopped, adjacent erstwhile you were asleep. The extremity was to unit retired phantasy espionage confessions."

Although Louis Arnaud pleaded his innocence to Iranian judges, it was to nary avail. It was a akin communicative for Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris: the past French hostages officially held by the Iranian regime, who returned to France connected 8 April aft respective months of location apprehension astatine the French embassy successful Tehran.

Although Arnaud, Kohler and Paris were each incarcerated successful the aforesaid prison, they ne'er crossed paths, but for 1 indirect encounter.

"We would lone person quality erstwhile a caller inmate arrived from extracurricular oregon different changed cells. But connected my past nighttime successful prison, I was thrown into a compartment I'd ne'er seen before, wherever I recovered a poem [by French writer Gérard Nerval] inscribed connected the wall. I knew consecutive distant that Cécile, who has a grade successful literature, had written it," Arnaud explained.

"I told myself that she had to prevention herself done lit and poetry. It was a peculiarly almighty infinitesimal due to the fact that arsenic I caressed the poem, it was arsenic if she had near it determination for a gross to open. It was arsenic if I was with her astatine that moment."

Protest question wrong Evin

The decease of Mahsa Amini successful September 2022 sparked wide protests crossed Iran, with connection of imaginable authorities alteration making its mode wrong the country's prisons.

"At first, the sentiment was 'let's protest, though we cognize it won't execute anything, we'll suffer anyway.' Then determination was this alteration of perspective, wherever radical were saying, 'It is really possible, we tin execute a revolution, and we indispensable person one,'" explained Arnaud.

In January 2026, protests again shook Iran, fuelled by choler astatine the country's authoritarian authorities and the spiralling economical crisis.

However, the question was taxable to aggravated repression by the regime, with information forces sidesplitting thousands and arresting astatine slightest 50,000 radical crossed the country, according to quality rights organisations.

"The gyration of 2022 failed and successful January 2026, Iranians attempted to signifier 1 again" said Arnaud. "In immoderate case, Evin remains not conscionable a prison, but besides a bastion of resistance."

Internal resistance

In his publication "La Résistance Intérieure," Arnaud details however the relationships helium built with different detainees shaped his tone of resistance.

"I met a captive who had been portion of the 1979 revolution, who had already been arrested, tortured and spent respective years successful prison," helium said.

"He is simply a antheral who, adjacent today, is regularly arrested and told helium volition beryllium killed. Yet successful prison, helium was ever smiling. It was arsenic if everything slipped done his fingers, arsenic if decease threats had nary clasp connected him."

This brushwood led Arnaud to alteration his behaviour successful prison. "I realised I was obedient, lowered my eyes and begged to telephone my family. But past I understood adjacent erstwhile you are successful chains, adjacent successful the worst situation successful the world, it's inactive imaginable to garbage servitude, to garbage to beryllium the unfortunate that they privation to enforce connected us. You don't person to beryllium a unfortunate successful life."

According to Arnaud, it was this paradigm displacement which allowed him to past his clip down bars, triggering the "inner revolution" that helium details successful his book.

"You don't person to person been taken hostage to cognize astir injustice, to cognize the feeling of having to endure things successful your life. I purpose to talk retired for Iranians, to assistance them, but besides to look up to the trials and challenges of mundane life, to unrecorded beingness much serenely."

Despite a tentative ceasefire successful spot betwixt the US, Israel and Iran, the Frenchman has struggled to enactment successful interaction with different erstwhile inmates implicit the people of the conflict.

"There's a spot of Internet access, but it's precise hard to entree the news. The Internet is heavy controlled. Iranians tin beryllium arrested, executed for a connection connected X, truthful I'm highly cautious not to inquire immoderate questions astir the warfare and their environment."

"My purpose is conscionable to attraction for Iranians arsenic different human, astir however Iranians consciousness and to archer them that they are not unsocial and that we are talking astir them present too, contiguous and that I americium doing everything I tin to transportation their voice."