Unwell Clonmel man in Iran jail nightmare

“I am going on 98. I want to stay alive to see my son again,” Vincent Phelan told The Nationalist.
His son Bernard, who was born in Clonmel, is languishing in a jail in Iran and facing a 6.5 year sentence in a notoriously harsh prison.

Bernard is in poor health and his father Vincent is hoping to see him again.
Vincent, whose father Cornelius, was involved in setting up the Clonmel and Newcastle creamery in the town, operated a furniture factory in Clonmel town centre before moving to Dublin.

The Phelan family lived in Kilgainey in a house that was knocked down because of flooding .
They then moved to Killaloan before moving to Dublin when the furniture factory, which was located near where the creamery was located, was forced to close.

Bernard, who went to primary school in Clonmel, has a sister Caroline and their brother Declan died some years ago.
His sister Caroline said |Bernard loved Clonmel and they all fondly remember going to Dublin on a couple of weekends a month after the family moved to Dublin.

“We went back to Clonmel regulary to visit family and friends. We have great memories as a result of our connection with Clonmel,” said Caroline who lives in France.
“Bernard loved Clonmel. Even after we moved to Dublin Bernard came down to Clonmel all of the time to walk the comerags. He loved the Comeraghs and was involved in mapping them out for the orienteering purposes,” said Caroline.
“We kept the house they lived in at Killaloan until eight years ago. We spent many many holidays and weekends with my family's friends in the region,” said Caroline.

The family of Bernard Phelan are demanding that the Irish Government shelve its plans to reopen its embassy in Iran after he was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison.
The 64-year-old Tipperary native was arrested in October while travelling and is being held in a freezing cell in Mashhad, in the north-east of the country.

In the latest development in his case, Bernard was brought before a judge in shackles and found guilty of ‘providing information to an enemy country’, a charge he denies.
NO LAWYER
He was not permitted to have his lawyer with him and was appointed a court lawyer for the process. A prison doctor and nurse accompanied him.

In an initial hearing in February , the judge sentenced him to 3.5 years but said he would receive a pardon from the court on humanitarian grounds because of his age and his ill health.
On February 26, Bernard was again brought to the court, with 20 minutes notice and without his own lawyer. He was told he would not be pardoned and that his sentence had been increased to 6.5 years.

Documentation from the legal proceedings has not been released.
Ireland’s Tánaiste and Minister of Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has held talks with Iran seeking Bernard’s release.
However Ireland still plans to reopen its embassy in Tehran this year despite mounting concern over the country’s human rights record.

Bernard’s cousin Professor Gregory O’Corry-Crowe said: “What is the point of having an embassy in Iran if Irish citizens cannot travel to the country without fear of arbitrary arrest?
“Instead of normalising relations with Iran we need to send them a very clear message that we cannot tolerate our citizens being held hostage. Until Bernard is released we should not contemplate reopening the embassy.”

Bernard Phelan was arrested on October 3 while travelling through the city of Mashhad, in the north-east of the country.
The Paris-based travel consultant was a regular visitor to the country as he worked closely with an Iranian tour operator called Adventure Iran which organises off-grid holidays in the country, including cycling tours.
He has dual Irish and French nationality, having lived in France for over 30 years.

Bernard was initially accused by police of taking photos of a burnt mosque and two photos of police, which he denies.
About a month later, he was accused by the prison judiciary of ‘propaganda against the regime’ and sending photos to the Guardian newspaper, which he also denies.
More recently he has been accused by the same judiciary of taking two small pieces of 900-year-old pottery from a village he had visited.

Again he denies all charges.
Since being detained, Bernard’s health has deteriorated significantly. He was briefly admitted to hospital and placed on an IV drip. He requires daily medication for a number of health conditions and fears his supplies will run out.

Bernard’s doctor is concerned about the decline in his health.
He has significant cardiovascular issues, cervical atherosclerosis, abnormal hypertension, high risk of stroke and kidney failure, a bone problem that generates significant chronic pain.
His eyesight is also deteriorating - he had an operation on both of his eyes prior to his trip to Iran and he has not had the necessary postoperative follow-up.