Second French academic detained in Iran since June

A prominent French academic has been in detention in Iran since June, when he was arrested with his Franco-Iranian colleague, a researchers' group announced Wednesday.

Roland Marchal, a sociologist whose research focuses on civil wars in Africa, and Fariba Adelkhah, an anthropologist, both work at the Sciences Po university in Paris.

The FASOPO association, of which they are both members, announced Marchal's detention on its website, saying it had remained quiet about his arrest at the request of French authorities until the story was reported on Tuesday by French newspaper Le Figaro.

It said that "discretion had seemed preferable to the French authorities, who immediately began working, at the highest level, to obtain the liberation of our colleagues..."
The association said it supported the French government's decision to keep quiet given the experience of foreign colleagues "who found themselves in the same situation" and who had found Western media reporting "either useless or, worse, counter-productive."
It said he was known "for his strong stances that reflect his uncompromising quest for intellectual honesty and humanistic values."