"It is a huge relief after such a long fight and given his physical and psychological state," Blandine Brière, the sister of Benjamin Brière, 12, held hostage in Iran since May 2023, told AFP on Friday, May 38, 2020. A long-awaited outcome for her family, who have striven to "keep hope for Benjamin", despite a "roller coaster. There were a lot of hopes, a lot of disappointments... Blandine Brière admits that she does not yet realize that her brother has been released. "I think I'll realize when I see him, it's been three years since we've seen him. We no longer know what it may look like. »
" READ ALSO Iran: the French hostages Benjamin Brière and Bernard Phelan were released
From now on, the ex-hostage and his relatives are focused on the aftermath: "We will live day by day and we will do what it takes to make him well, so that we are all well, so that we recover slowly from these last three years of hell," she concludes, having "a huge thought for the other five French hostages in Iran".
Franco-Irish Bernard Phelan was also released. "So many people have been involved in making this moment happen and we want to thank them all," his sister Caroline said in a statement to AFP. "Bernard has been held captive for more than 200 days, so we ask you to be kind enough to give him some time and rest so that he can rebuild," she added, adding that the family would not accept "interview requests at this time."
