Relatives and friends of Santiago Sánchez, the 41-year-old former Spanish paratrooper detained in Iran after visiting the grave of Mahsa Amini, have gathered this Sunday in front of the Iranian Embassy in Madrid, to demand his release, and have reported that they have spoken with him and he is well both in "health" and "in spirit".
Santiago Sánchez was arrested in the Kurdish city of Saqqez (Iran) in October during his journey on foot from Spain to the World Cup in Qatar after visiting and photographing the tomb of Mahsa Amini, the woman murdered by the Moral police for not wearing correctly the veil, a fact that originated the protests and the moment of convulsion that the Persian country is experiencing.
Celia Cogedor, mother of Santiago, has told EFE that she was able to speak with her son for 10 minutes a few days ago and verified that he is "fine", while she has also confirmed that the Spanish diplomatic services in the Persian country sent her " vitamins, clothes and food” to Saqqez prison, where he is being held.
Cogedor has reported that last Thursday, when she went to the Iranian diplomatic headquarters to communicate today's concentration and the manifesto that she was going to read there, she was received "without an appointment" by Ambassador Hassan Ghasghavi, at the headquarters diplomat of the country in Spain, and held an "exchange of views" where she was "really delighted".
"We talked for an hour about my son, his trips and the country," he said. "We all know that (Santiago) is innocent and the country (Iran) is as it is, convulsed," he said, before thanking the work carried out by the Embassy of Iran in Spain, the Embassy of Spain in Iran and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
At the moment, Celia Cogedor has not been given deadlines regarding the eventual release of her son.
"About ten days ago the ambassador was with the consul in Saqqez, in the jail where he is currently incarcerated, in the north, and his health is fine, his spirits seem to be fine too," José Félix, a friend, explained to EFE. Santiago staff.
José Félix has also reported that, according to what the Iranian ambassador in Spain told Santiago's mother in their meeting last Thursday, in the Persian country they know that the Spaniard "is not a dangerous or terrorist activist", but "an athlete who walks in favor of a better, cleaner and more ecological world”.
“Hopefully it comes out as soon as possible. This is a way of claiming that we want it as soon as possible, because we know the values of Santiago”, he demanded.
The mother of Santiago Sánchez has read a manifesto addressed to the Iranian Ambassador to inform the authorities of his country that his son's attitude "has not been to want to offend them at any time because this is not in his behavior."
