The Turkish-Armenian writer and linguist Sevan Nisanyan, arrested at the end of December on the Greek island of Samos and since invited to leave Greece, announced on his Facebook page on Sunday that he had reached Paris before continuing to Armenia.
"
Les Deux Magots next door
", he posted on Sunday in reference to the famous Parisian café, after having already published a photo of him on Saturday at the Paris Opera.
“
I left Greece, another insane police state (…) Will be in Paris briefly, then in Armenia for a while
,” he tweeted on Thursday.
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Wanted by Turkey after escaping from prison, Sevan Nisanyan, 66, had joined the island of Samos in 2017 where he lived with a temporary residence permit.
He had been convicted and imprisoned in Turkey in 2014 after being charged in an illegal construction case which he believes was a punishment for his political views.
In 2012, he had already been convicted in Turkey for blasphemy on a blog defending an anti-Islam film that ridiculed the Prophet Muhammad and sparked angry protests around the world. Sevan Nisanyan was arrested on December 30 in Samos after the Greek authorities refused to renew his residence permit, according to his Greek wife Ira Tzourou, who feared that her husband would be deported to Turkey.
On January 7, Greek justice finally decided to release the writer on condition that he leaves the country within two weeks.
"
As Sevan Nisanyan is an Armenian citizen, he can go to Armenia if he wishes,
" said the Armenian Embassy in Athens.
Greek justice often refuses to extradite to Turkey people who claim to be persecuted there for their opinions.
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