Victor Dupont, a doctoral student at the University of Aix-Marseille detained in Tunisia since October 19, returned to France on Friday, November 15, three days after being released by order of the Tunisian military justice. The reason for his arrest has not yet been officially communicated.
“This release is a great relief for his loved ones and for all his colleagues, who are still overwhelmed with emotion”reacted Vincent Geisser, director of the Institute for Research and Studies on the Arab and Muslim World (Iremam), attached to the University of Aix-Marseille and the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). Earlier in the week, one of his friends, a French-Tunisian woman, who had been arrested shortly after him, was also freed and able to return to France, where she lives.
The arrest of the 27-year-old researcher by military justice caused a strong mobilization of the scientific community of both countries. Immediately after his arrest, a support committee was created to request “his immediate release” with the Tunisian and French authorities. The Quai d’Orsay had seriously assured “Monitor the situation closely” and be “in close contact with the Tunisian authorities on this issue”.
“Effective field diplomacy”
Since then, the watchword has continued to be discretion, despite “diplomatic mobilization” received by family members and colleagues of the researcher. “French diplomacy really worked without giving lessons. This is a more effective field diplomacy than what we knew during the Ben Ali dictatorship. [1987-2011] »welcomes Mr. Geisser.
“Despite requests for discretion, we thought it was important to remember that Victor Dupont was in Tunisia in the context of his scientific research and to put an end to the theses according to which he was not really a student.adds the director of Iremam. For us it was about defending academic freedom, whether for our French colleagues in Tunisia or for Tunisians in France, it is the same.”.
On Saturday, October 19, the young man, who arrived in the country ten days earlier to conduct interviews as part of his sociological work on the trajectories of the participants in the Tunisian revolution of 2011, wanted to take advantage of the good weather to escape for a weekend. from Tunisia, with three friends visiting the country. Victor Dupont, a doctoral student at Iremam, attached to the University of Aix-Marseille and the CNRS, knows Tunisia because he followed Arabic language courses there for a year.
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