Roland Marchal is a French sociologist who was imprisoned in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

from June 2019 to March 2020. His research focuses on civil wars in Africa. In 1997, Marchal joined the staff of the Centre for International Studies (CERI) at

Sciences Po Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

. His research specialized in civil wars in Africa. In June 2019, Marchal traveled to Iran to visit his Franco-Iranian Sciences Po colleague

Fariba Adelkhah Fariba Adelkhah (; born 25 April 1959) is a French-Iranian anthropologist and academic at Sciences Po who was detained in Iran from 2019 until 2023. Early life and career Born in Tehran, Adelkhah studied in France, first at Université Stras ...

. He was arrested upon arrival at Tehran airport. Adelkhah was imprisoned as well. On 28 October 2019, Marchal's lawyer in Iran said Iranian authorities had accused his client of "collusion against national security". Marchal and Adelkhah were held in

Evin Prison Evin Prison () is a prison located in the Evin neighborhood of Tehran, Iran. The prison has been the primary site for detaining Iran's political prisoners since 1972, before and after the Iranian Revolution, in a purpose-built wing nicknamed "E ...

. On 7 February 2020, their lawyer said the two had petitioned prison authorities to allow them to marry. Their trial was scheduled to begin on 3 March 2020, but was postponed due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Marchal was released on 20 March 2020 in exchange for an Iranian who was jailed in France.

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* Living people Year of birth missing (living people) French sociologists Academic staff of Sciences Po French people imprisoned in Iran Inmates of Evin Prison {{France-sociologist-stub