A Perth couple who faced the death penalty after Iranian authorities charged them with espionage have spoken out about their three-month ordeal in a Tehran prison.
Australian, Mark Firkin, and British-Australian Jolie King, had been travelling around the world in their LandCruiser and vlogging their adventures when they were arrested at gunpoint in July 2019 for flying a drone while camping at a military precinct.
They were held in the notorious Evin Prison – used to house Iran’s political prisoners – for almost three months.
Mr Firkin said the couple were woken at midnight by police who didn’t speak English and didn’t understand when they tried to explain they were merely tourists.
“They weren’t having a bar of what we were trying to communicate with them and they just didn’t believe we were who we said we were,” he said.
“They wanted us to pack everything we had up and go with them immediately, which is a lot easier said than done, but when someone puts a gun to your head you kind of start trying to do what they’re asking very quickly.
“We were handcuffed and blindfolded and taken to a holding facility.”
From there Mr Firkin and Ms King were charged with espionage, which in Iran carries a maximum penalty of death.
Read the article by Nathan Hondros in the Brisbane Times.