Victor Dupont, a 27-year-old French doctoral student who had been detained since October 19 in Tunisia, where he conducted sociological research on participants in the 2011 revolution, was released and returned to France on Friday, November 15, announced the French Ministry. of Foreign Affairs.
He “He was released from prison on November 12 and returned to France today”declared Christophe Lemoine, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We are delighted that he can be reunited with his loved ones”he added, in response to a question about the national situation during a weekly press conference.
The American agency Associated Press also writes that the young man was received by a group of friends and supporters upon his arrival at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport on Friday afternoon.
The reason for his arrest is still unknown.
The arrest of this doctoral student was announced on October 31 by the director of his research laboratory at the University of Aix-Marseille. Victor Dupont conducts research on the socio-professional trajectory of “people who may have been involved at the time of the 2011 revolution”the first popular uprising of the “Arab Spring” that put an end to the regime of Tunisian dictator Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, Vincent Geisser stated at the time. “It is not a political issue linked to dissidents or opponents, it is not a security issue, it is a classic sociological issue”he insisted.
Victor Dupont had arrived in Tunisia about ten days before his arrest to conduct interviews. The reason for his arrest has not been officially communicated. Questioned on Friday, the spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry did not respond. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Higher Education, our embassy and our consulate in Tunisia remained mobilized during this matter”he stressed on the other hand.
Tunisia is led by Kaïs Saïed, a president accused by the opposition and local and foreign NGOs of “authoritarian drift”but who was re-elected by an overwhelming majority of 90.7% on October 6.
