Amir Hekmati Sues U.S. Department of Justice Over Rejection of $20 Million Compensation Claim

Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine who claims he was tortured by the Islamic Republic government in Iran, has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for rejecting his federal $20 million compensation claim as a victim of foreign terrorism. According to Reuters, Hekmati, who was detained in the Islamic Republic for nearly five years, registered his complaint on Tuesday in Washington, claiming that the Department of Justice violated his fundamental rights by revoking his eligibility. Despite promises of compensation, the payment was halted after the Department of Justice alleged that Hekmati lied about the purpose of his trip to Iran in 2011 and accused him of planning to sell classified information. The U.S. Department of Justice states that Hekmati accessed classified information while in Afghanistan, which was outside his job scope. In his complaint, Hekmati argues that he should have had 'the opportunity for confrontation and cross-examination' with anonymous witnesses against him, which he believes led the government to withdraw from compensating him as a victim of terrorism. He, who has not been convicted of any crime, claims he traveled to Iran for a family matter. He was arrested by the security apparatus of the Islamic Republic during his trip in 2011. Hekmati served in the U.S. Army until 2005, and the judiciary of the Islamic Republic sentenced him to death for 'collaborating with an enemy government,' a sentence later reduced to ten years in prison upon appeal. He was released in late January 2016, coinciding with the announcement of the JCPOA and the lifting of sanctions by the U.S., along with several other Iranian-American prisoners, including Jason Rezaian, Saeed Abedini, and Nasratollah Khosravi, and returned to the U.S.