Iran Press/Iran news: The vice presidency expressed its support for the inalienable humanitarian rights of the female Muslim journalist, calling on Iranian officials to do their best to secure Hashemi's release.
Also on Sunday, Iran's Minister of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Mohammad Azari Jahromi said that the US administration has once again trampled on its own principles by detaining Press TV’s anchorwoman, Iran Press reported.
In a message on his Instagram account, Azari Jahromi commended Press TV's approach to actively engage global issues, which has revealed true colors of the US government.
Also Iranian Vice President and Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters on Sunday that the detention of Press TV news anchor has revealed the weakness of the US government, which always claims to be a "beacon of democracy in the world."
The Iranian nuclear chief criticized silence of Western countries, particularly the European Union, in the detention case of Press TV’s anchor, saying, “When an issue is in line with their interests, Western countries raise Cain, but when such unfortunate cases happen in which the innocence and truthfulness of this lady is evident to everybody, they remain totally silent.”
Salehi stated that the EU says a lot about the situation of human rights in Iran, so “why it has kept lull in this case?”
Iran’s Human Rights Youth Organization lashed out at the US government for arresting Press TV's anchor and urged her immediate release.
In a statement, the organization said the violent and humiliating behavior of the US police, who put Hashemi’s hands and feet in chain, was a blatant violation of the freedom of speech and human rights.
The Press TV journalist's detention is another case of violation of the rights of African-Americans by the US, the organization said, adding, "It seems there is no end to the breach of national and international rights by the US government."
Hashemi, a 59-year-old American-born Muslim convert who has been living in Iran for years, was detained at St. Louis Lambert International Airport in Missouri last Sunday 13 Jan 2019 while she was in the US to visit her ill brother and other family members.
She was transferred to a detention facility of FBI in Washington DC, where she was forced to remove her hijab and only offered food not permissible under her Islamic values.
After days of silence, the US government confirmed on Friday that it was holding Hashemi in jail as a “material witness,” and that she would be released after she testified before a grand jury.
Hashemi's illegal detention has led to reactions from outstanding political figures and bodies all around the world.
At the request of the US Justice Department, Judge Beryl Alaine Howell, the chief district judge for the District of Columbia, issued a federal court order, approving the partial unsealing of the Press TV journalist’s case, on Friday.
Press TV news anchor Marzieh Hashemi (file photo)
According to the document, since her arrest, the journalist has appeared twice before a US district judge in Washington and has been appointed a lawyer.
However, the Friday court order did not include any details regarding the criminal case in which she has been named as a material witness.
According to US media, US government officials expected her to be released immediately after her testimony before a grand jury, but Ms. Hashemi's elder son, Hossein, was pessimistic about prospects for her immediate release, saying it was not clear yet how long his mother’s testimony would last.
“We’re hoping that it would be complete and she would be out this week. It doesn't look like that's going to happen,” said Hossein outside the court on Friday. “So we're just waiting to hear more.”
Based on Washington post report on Saturday, US judicial authorities rarely issue material witness warrants, and the warrant issued for Press TV’s anchorwoman was this first of its kind this year.
“Hashemi’s case is the first such filed in federal court in Washington this year, and the court’s electronic docketing system indicates only two such cases were filed last year. Both are still under seal,” the report added.
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