Paris, Feb 26, (dpa/GNA) – A Paris court, has sentenced an Iranian woman to four years in prison with three on probation, for the glorification of terrorism, prosecutors reported on Thursday.
The court also ordered the woman, named as Mahdieh Esfandiari, to be deported. Broadcaster France Info reported that she intended to appeal.
Esfandiari faced trial for a series of anti-Semitic posts on social media in 2023 and 2024, in connection with the October 7, 2023 attacks mounted on Israel from the Gaza Strip.
She told the court that she had not composed the posts, according to a report in the Le Parisien newspaper.
Esfandiari was released under condition in October, after eight months in pretrial detention. This was seen as a concession that led to the release from custody two weeks later of a French couple held in Iran.
The couple are currently being accommodated in the French embassy in Tehran, but are not allowed to leave Iran.
The Esfandiari case has prompted speculation in France that a swap is in the offing.
French teachers CĂ©cile Kohler and Jacques Paris were arrested in Iran in 2022, and sentenced in October last year to 17 and 20 years respectively, after conviction for spying for Israel.
The case has severely impacted relations between Paris and Tehran.
GNA