Amnesty International Calls for the Release of Nazanin Zaghari

Amnesty International, in a statement referencing Iran's tradition of releasing some prisoners during the Nowruz holidays, expressed hope that Nazanin Zaghari would be freed. The organization emphasized that Zaghari is not the only prisoner in Iran who could be released, but her freedom would be a small yet significant victory for human rights. Nazanin Zaghari, who traveled to Iran for the Nowruz holidays, was arrested on April 4, 2016, by the IRGC intelligence at Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran while attempting to leave Iran. She was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of 'acting against national security.' Since November 14, 2016, she has been on a hunger strike in protest of her solitary confinement and the five-year sentence, and after breaking her hunger strike, she was transferred to a general cell in Evin Prison. Currently, her two-year-old daughter, Gisu, lives separately from her parents with her maternal grandparents. In a letter published last March, she wrote to her husband that 'the country we once took pride in has taken away the golden days of our daughter's upbringing from both of us.' Several Iranian-Americans, including Siamak and Baqer Namazi, and Karan Vafadari, are also imprisoned in Iran. Afrin Niyasari and Nizar Zaka are two other prisoners who do not hold U.S. citizenship but are permanent residents of the country. Meanwhile, the human rights activist website in Iran, HRANA, reported on Sunday that Reza (Robin) Shahini, a dual Iranian-American citizen imprisoned in Golestan Prison, was released on bail of 200 million tomans. Reza (Robin) Shahini traveled to Iran in June 2016 to visit his sick mother but was arrested by security forces at his mother's house just days before returning to the U.S. He was ultimately sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges of 'collaborating with hostile governments, acting against national security, and communicating with anti-revolutionary elements and media.' Reports regarding his hunger strike had been published in Bahman. Previously, the IRGC in Golestan Province claimed he had connections with the 'U.S. intelligence service' by releasing photos from his Facebook showing him alongside opponents of the Islamic Republic and at gatherings supporting protests after the 2009 presidential elections. In a letter in Esfand 2016, Shahini rejected his charges and described the handling of these accusations as 'unfair.' He stated that his charges were based on photos of his participation in 'gatherings supporting the Green Movement in America' and that he had not met with anyone advocating violent political struggle, asserting that his only 'crime' was expressing his thoughts.