Iran Press/Iran news: Amoli Larijani lashed out at the US authorities for the illegal arrest of Hashemi, expressing his surprise at the case of detained Press TV journalist which shows for the first time a country imprisons its own citizen as a witness without certain charges.
The Iranian judiciary chief said that based on the evidence, the United States has arrested her because she works for, and is a supporter of, the Islamic Republic of Iran.
According to a Mehr News Agency report, Amoli Larijani ordered the prosecutor-general to take all necessary steps to secure Hashemi’s release in accordance with Iran's Administrative Civil Procedure.
Iranian judiciary chief further rebuked American officials and America's legal system, saying Marzieh Hashemi's arrest and detention exposed America's double standards with regard to human rights.
Hashemi, a 59-year-old American-born Muslim convert who has been living in Iran for years, was detained at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, Missouri, on Sunday 13 Jan 2019 while she was in the US to visit her sick brother, who is suffering from cancer, and other family members.
She was transferred to a detention facility by 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.
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. 105 / 211
Read More:
Iran's Vice Presidency for women's affair supports Marzieh Hashemi
