American-Born Iranian Journalist Detained in U.S. by FBI

[JCFantasy23]

AN AMERICAN-BORN anchorwoman on Iran's English-language state television service was arrested by the FBI this week while visiting the United States.

Press TV reported on Wednesday that its anchorwoman, Marzieh Hashemi, had been detained in the U.S. "for unspecified reasons." She was taken into custody upon her arrival at St. Louis Lambert International Airport on Sunday.

According to Press TV, Hashemi, who converted to Islam in 1982, has worked for the station for 25 years. She was in the United States to visit her family and brother, who has cancer. Hashemi could not communicate with her family and was only allowed to contact her daughter two days after being taken into custody, the outlet said.

Full article

 

[Nithavela]

Just as shamefull as Iran detaining a us soldier who went to his brothers funeral. Propably even done in retaliation.

 

[hislegacy]

And....

Until we find out why she is detained we really can’t speak to the situation can we?

 

[Nithavela]

And....

Until we find out why she is detained we really can’t speak to the situation can we?

Of course we cant, we can never speak about anything unless we know ALL the facts.

Thats why nobody ever says anything.

 

[JCFantasy23]

Just as shamefull as Iran detaining a us soldier who went to his brothers funeral. Propably even done in retaliation.

Yes, I caught that the end of the article, makes it suspicious

The journalist's arrest comes shortly after Iran confirmed it had detained U.S. Navy veteran Michael White in an Iranian prison. The AP reported that four other American citizens are also being held in the country.

 

[Nithavela]

Yes, I caught that the end of the article, makes it suspicious

The journalist's arrest comes shortly after Iran confirmed it had detained U.S. Navy veteran Michael White in an Iranian prison. The AP reported that four other American citizens are also being held in the country.

Im not going to say that there isnt a good reason for her arrest, but until there is evidence of that reason I have my suspicions.

 

[hislegacy]

Iran holds an American
America detains an American working in Iran

And that is somehow get back for Iran holding an American?

 

[JCFantasy23]

I'm just curious what was suspicious. She's worked with the media 25 years and is a mother of two without any violent history. Even if there is something involved with suddenly arresting her when coming to visit her family, some of the concerns about how she is being treated is depressing.

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

Iran holds an American
America detains an American working in Iran

And that is somehow get back for Iran holding an American?

Let's just hope America hasn't stooped that low.

 

[Hank77]

Even if there is something involved with suddenly arresting her when coming to visit her family, some of the concerns about how she is being treated is depressing.

I'm not believing the report about how she is being kept, specifically, I don't believe she is being fed only pork products. I don't believe that for one minute, so what's going on here?

 

[Tanj]

She's being held as a material witness by the FBI. Surprised that hasn't been mentioned. Oh, wait, the OP is from presstv. I understand now.

 

[Nithavela]

Quoting the PressTV story...

Furthermore, she has been offered only pork as meal - which is forbidden under Islamic law - and even denied bread and any other halal food after refusing to consume the meat.

Yeah.. I don't think so.

 

[cow451]

Quoting the PressTV story...



Yeah.. I don't think so.

Another source:
American-born journalist for Iranian TV is detained in U.S.

 

[USincognito]

Quoting the PressTV story...

Yeah.. I don't think so.

And that claim has already been enshrined on her Wikipedia page.
Marzieh Hashemi - Wikipedia

 

[JCFantasy23]

Another source:
American-born journalist for Iranian TV is detained in U.S.

Thank you for the NBC Link.

It's also been covered by other larger news agencies, I should have linked to one of them instead but didn't catch it. Here are a few others that pop up. They all say the same thing.

US News
BBC
FOX
New York Times
CBS

 

[JCFantasy23]

I agree that it does sound unlikely on the food, and it just be her saying that in a plea to her daughter, but we don't know for sure she really is being treated humanely. Everyone hears horror stories of people being jailed or detained that are true as well.

 

[Arcangl86]

Iran holds an American
America detains an American working in Iran

And that is somehow get back for Iran holding an American?

She's also an Iranian citizen and a very well known figure over there.

 

[JCFantasy23]

She's being held as a material witness by the FBI. Surprised that hasn't been mentioned. Oh, wait, the OP is from presstv. I understand now.

Out of 7 sources I've read, only CBS says that:

The U.S. Justice Department and the FBI continued on Thursday to refuse comment on the alleged detention of an American woman who has worked for years as an anchorwoman on Iran's state-run television. Marzieh Hashemi was arrested by the FBI during a visit to the U.S. on Sunday, Iran's English-language broadcaster Press TV reported Wednesday. Her son has said she is being held in a prison, apparently as a material witness.

Hashemi was detained in St. Louis, where she had filmed a Black Lives Matter documentary after visiting relatives in the New Orleans area. She was then taken to Washington, according to her elder son, Hossein Hashemi.​

Later in the article:

Federal law allows judges to order witnesses to be arrested and detained if the government can prove their testimony has extraordinary value for a criminal case and that they would be a flight risk and unlikely to respond to a subpoena. The statute generally requires those witnesses to be promptly released once they are deposed, however.

And later in the article:

Hashemi, an American citizen, had not been contacted by the FBI before she was detained and would "absolutely" have been willing to cooperate with the agency, her son said.


This still sounds fishy and no one who knows her is believing it from this article - but the other articles still say there is not any information.

"The constitutionality of the material witness law has "never been meaningfully tested," said Ricardo J. Bascuas, a professor at the University of Miami School of Law. "The government only relies on it when they need a reason to arrest somebody but they don't have one."

No matter the reason for Marzieh Hashemi's detention, she should have been granted a court appearance by now, Bascuas said."​

 

[JCFantasy23]

I've found the same information from CBS on Washingtonpost. How long do they hold in prison for this without any charges? From what I'm reading, as long as they say they want to hold you for a material witness, you can be kept in prison without being charged for any crime at all?

 

[Nithavela]

Personally I'm getting the impression that the entire press is just copying itself from a small number of sources. There's no evidence except some supposed claims by this woman, some of which sound highly dubious. On the other hand, government agencies also have a record of doing pretty vile stuff and denying it.

I don't know. I guess the only good thing is that her case is getting international attention and she can't just disappear because of it.