Iran has released Santiago Sánchez Cogedor from Madrid, who was arrested and imprisoned in that country in October 2022 after visiting the grave of Mahsa Amini.
The Iranian Embassy in Spain has indicated in a message on the social network
The Spanish adventurer left Madrid last year with the aim of reaching Qatar, where the World Cup was held. His intention was to travel more than 6,000 kilometers in solidarity, but he did not reach his destination. After crossing the border with Iran, which was the last country he would cross, he detoured more than 300 kilometers to go to the tomb of Mahsa Amini.
There, in the Kurdish city of Saqqez, he was arrested after photographing the grave of the young woman whose death due to wearing the veil incorrectly caused strong protests in the country itself and much of the world.
At that time the country was embroiled in protests against the ayatollahs over Amini’s death. Sánchez’s relatives did not find out that he had been arrested until three weeks later.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to diplomatic sources, has spent several months carrying out very discreet efforts to get Sánchez to return to Spain.
The progress, as the same sources assure, was communicated promptly to the prisoner’s family. The contacts have been of a high level. The Foreign Minister himself, José Manuel Albares, has spoken several times in recent months with his Iranian counterpart until reaching the expected agreement.
Given the delay in the efforts, the man from Madrid decided to start a hunger strike on September 22 as a measure of pressure.
In 2019, Santiago Sánchez Cogedor went from Alcalá de Henares to Saudi Arabia by bicycle and was helping orphanages, hospitals and NGOs along the way.
