Academic British-Australian Kylie Moore-Gilbert, jailed by Iran for over two years on espionage charges, has been freed in a prisoner exchange for three Iran citizens. The Middle Eastern studies lecturer at the University of Melbourne had been imprisoned in Iran since 2018.
Academic Released From Iran Prison on Prisoner Exchange
Human rights proponents are concerned that Iran and other nations may be prompted to subject Australians and other nationalities to arbitrary detention after Gilbert's freeing in a prisoner-swap exchange.
The 33-year-old was released from detainment on Thursday in exchange for three Iranians in Thailand associated with a bungled bomb plot in Bangkok against Israeli nationals in 2012.
Gilbert stated that she is departing Iran with "bittersweet feelings" upon being freed from an Iranian jail, reported Evening Standard.
The academic was seized at the Tehran Airport while leaving the country following her attendance at a 2018 conference. She was indicted for spying and was sentenced to 10 years in prison but has vehemently denied the allegations.
Her 24 months of imprisonment were "a long and traumatic ordeal," which was endured with the support she received from abroad. Gilbert's first words upon her release from the Qarchak prison yesterday were a "thank you" to people who have supported her throughout her bout, reported AsiaNews.it.
The television report merely indicated that the three Iranians freed in the exchange had been jailed for attempting to bypass Iran sanctions.
Gilbert was one of numerous Westerners held in Iran on widely denounced espionage charges that United Nations investigators and activists believed is a systematic effort to elevate their imprisonments for money or influence in deals with the West. Tehran denies the claim.
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The academic thanked her supporters and diplomatic efforts to secure her freedom on Thursday.
The three Iranians linked with the bomb plot had been held in Thailand since 2012. Thailand authorities confirmed that the three Iranians imprisoned at that time had been expatriated and sent home on Wednesday.
Iranian state media reported that Gilbert was swapped for an Iranian businessman and two Iranian citizens reportedly detained from abroad and have yet to be identified.
A report of the exchange first arrived on Wednesday in a statement on the Young Journalist Club's website, a news website associated with the Iranian state television.
According to Gilbert, "I have nothing but respect, love and admiration for the great nation of Iran and its warm-hearted, generous and brave people. I came to Iran as a friend and with friendly intentions, and depart Iran with those sentiments not only still intact, but strengthened," reported CNN.
A video of the trio draped with Iranian flags and being greeted by Iranian officials was displayed by the Iranian state media covering Gilbert's release.
Two other Australians, travel bloggers Mark Firkin and Jolie King, were freed in October 2019 by Iran in another apparent exchange for Iran student Reza Dehbashi.
