An Iranian academic, charged and jailed in France over her condemnation of the Israeli regime's genocide in the Gaza Strip, has returned home.

Mahdieh Esfandiari arrived in the country on Wednesday upon pursuance of her freedom by relevant Iranian authorities.

On February 26, a court in France had sentenced the 39-year-old to four years in prison after she protested the genocide that has claimed the lives of more than 72,000 Palestinians, including women and children, since its onset in October 2023.

The court, however, sentenced the Lumière University graduate, who used to work as a professor, translator, and interpreter at the higher education institute, on alleged charges of "public defense of terrorism." The court also permanently barred Esfandiari from entering French territory.

She had previously spent eight months in pretrial detention before being released under conditional terms.

'Free speech in France a lie'

Upon arrival, Esfandiari said, “I think it is now clear and evident to everyone that, at least in France, where I was present, there is no freedom of expression." "The court’s ruling was very unjust," she added.

"They imposed restrictions on me and held me hostage until their two spies were brought [back] to France, and on the same day those restrictions were lifted and we were able to arrange the travel preparations,” she said. Esfandiari was able to travel back to Iran upon the return to France of two French citizens, who had been held in the Islamic Republic for espionage.

The academic also expressed her condolences over the martyrdom of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and others targeted during the latest bout of unprovoked Israeli-American aggression against the Islamic Republic.

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