Santiago Sanchez Cogedor

Santiago Sanchez Cogedor was a Spanish tourist walking from Spain to Qatar. After entering Iran, he went to Saqez at the same time as the uprising of the 2022 and was arrested after visiting the tomb of Mahsa Amini.

• <coverage-outsourcing id='54156'> <reference source='https://www.bbc.com/persian/articles/c513rk0z7gko'> According to BBC Farsi, Santiago Sanchez started his march from the Matapinone Stadium in Madrid with the support of the San Sebastian City Council and a group of Spanish environmental activists with the message "You can make the world happy with your bare hands and walk around the world to help people." According to this report, he was supposed to reach Doha, the capital of Qatar, in November to watch the 2022 FIFA World Cup games by traveling a distance of about 7,000 kilometers. BBC Farsi also quoted Franco Salamanca, a close friend of Santiago Sanchez, and wrote that Mr. Sanchez had decided to go to Qatar from Bandar Abbas by boat on his way through Iran. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='54155'> <reference source='http://tinyurl.com/3ay3yejr'> At the same time as the beginning days of the 2022 uprising, the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic issued a statement claiming that the people it called "seditious" and "destructive agents", including "9 foreign nationals" working "on stage or behind the scenes", were identified and arrested. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='54158'> <reference source='https://www.bbc.com/persian/articles/c513rk0z7gko'> He entered Iran through the Bashmakh land border between Iran and Iraq. While emphasizing the disruption and outage of the internet in Iran in the middle of the uprising of women, life, freedom, BBC Faris, quoting Franco Salamanca, a friend of Santiago Sanchez, wrote that he had told his family that it was difficult to communicate via internet and they need not to worry if they did not hear from him. According to this report, he decided to travel to Tehran the next day. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='54159'> <reference source='https://www.bbc.com/persian/articles/c513rk0z7gko'> He was arrested in Aichi Saqez Mausoleum. Franco Salamanca, a friend of Santiago Sanchez, told BBC Farsi that when Santiago arrived in Iran, several people suggested he visit the grave of Mahsa Amini: > They took Santiago to the grave of [Mahsa] Amini. While Santiago was there taking pictures of the grave, the plainclothes police came, Santiago stayed there because he didn't think he had done anything wrong. The police arrested him and put something over his head and face." Mr. Salamanca added that Santiago Sanchez did not know that photographing the grave of Mahsa Amini was an "illegal act. According to the report of BBC Farsi, Santiago Sanchez spent about a month in the detention center of Saqez and Sanandaj Intelligence Department, intermittently in solitary confinement, and then he was transferred to Ward 209 of Evin prison: > He was harassed a lot in Sanandaj prison, he was kept with the prisoners. They threw him in with addicts. According to this report, Mr. Sanchez spent about two months in solitary confinement in Evin prison. Also, BBC Farsi, quoting a source, wrote that Mr. Sanchez did not know what his charges were for a long time and was kept in cell 209 indefinitely. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='54161'> <reference source='http://tinyurl.com/3nyj47kw'> In a press conference, Nasser Kanani, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic, told IRNA, the official news agency of the Islamic Republic, about the arrest of several foreign citizens during the protests of Azadi women: > Some of the foreign citizens were arrested in the recent internal developments in Iran and illegal actions that should not have been committed. Investigations have been carried out in this regard and are being carried out. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='54163'> <reference source='https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/28/iran-arrests-spanish-football-fan-walking-to-qatar-family'> In an interview with the parents of Santiago Sanchez, Al Jazeera TV talked about his recent situation in prison. In this interview, his mother told Al Jazeera: > I hope Iran will accept my apology for my son's possible violation. He did not want to harm Iran's security and I hope he will return home for the New Year holidays. While emphasizing that his son was not and is not a member of any party, Sanchez's father said in this interview: > He does not work for the propaganda of any political side. His only supports Real Madrid. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='54160'> <reference source='https://www.bbc.com/persian/articles/c513rk0z7gko'> While publishing a report on the condition of Santiago Sanchez, BBC Farsi quoted Franco Salamanca, a friend of Mr. Sanchez, who wrote that the judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic have accused Santiago of espionage and "participation in Iran's protests": > This is despite the fact that he has never participated in any protests. According to this report, he calls his friends and family through Skype once every two weeks and has met with the Spanish ambassador in Iran three times. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='54162'> <reference source='https://x.com/IraninSpain/status/1741487786140807359?s=20'> He was released. In a message on X social network, while announcing this news, the Iranian Embassy in Madrid said he was "the only Spanish imprisoned in Iran" and wrote that he has been released "within the framework of friendly and historical relations" between the two countries and "in accordance with the law". </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='54164'> <reference source='https://www.radiofarda.com/a/spaniard-imprisoned-in-iran-after-visiting-grave-of-mahsa-amini-arrives-home-after-release/32756358.html'> After arriving at Madrid airport, he was welcomed by his family and friends. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='55012'> <reference source='https://www.bbc.com/persian/articles/ce9e60z936po'> "I experienced things in prison that I wouldn't even wish on my worst enemies." In an interview with the Spanish BBC, Santiago Sánchez stated that he did not know much about Mahsa Amini's story, and believed that they framed him. In this interview, Mr. Sanchez discussed the story of being tricked into visiting Mahsa Amini's grave and announced that he spent 42 days in a small solitary cell and "under intense pressure" of interrogations. According to the Spanish BBC, it was only three months after his arrest that he was allowed to contact his family. "The claim that I was allowed to use Skype to call my family is completely false and I don't know where that claim came from," Santiago stressed. Mr. Sanchez told the BBC about the inhumane conditions of some parts of the prison: > Ward 209 of Evin prison is one of the most horrible places I have ever seen in my life. It should be banned, to lock a human being in a cell without sanitary facilities and only once a week taking them to a small yard to exercise for ten minutes." Santiago believes that Ward 209 of Evin prison is used to pressure inmates to speak "if they have something to say . Regarding the conditions of the prisoners in Ward 209, he said: > The suffering caused by that Ward of Evin Prison belongs to another planet; I was even talking to ants and added: > I only know that I spent 14 months in a prison while innocent, where there is no trace of human rights; 14 months under the pressure and fear of the possibility of being sentenced to life imprisonment or even execution because in Iran, they can hang spies. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>