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VOA – On the 5th anniversary of the imprisonment of Iranian American citizen Emad Shargi in Evin Prison, the U.S. special envoy for Iran called Sunday for his immediate release.
Robert Malley said Iranian authorities arrested Shargi “on spurious charges” and that Shargi has been “wrongfully detained in Iran’s Evin prison.”
Malley, in his tweet Sunday, also called for Iran to release two other imprisoned Americans.
Five years ago today, Emad Shargi was arrested by Iran’s authorities on spurious charges. He has since been wrongfully detained in Iran’s Evin prison, separated from his loved ones. 1/2— Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley (@USEnvoyIran) April 23, 2023
“We will not stop working until he is released, along with Siamak Namazi and Morad Tahbaz,” Malley said. “Iran must end its outrageous practice of detaining U.S. citizens for political purposes.”
Shargi is an Iranian American businessman and investor who was arrested in 2017 for what Iran alleged was espionage and disrupting national security. He was acquitted of all charges and released after eight months, but authorities arrested him again and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel called Sunday “another sad day for U.S. citizen Emad Shargi and his family.”
“Today, Emad remains wrongfully detained in Evin Prison on bogus charges after being tried in absentia with no access to the evidence himself,” told reporters at a briefing Friday.
“We once again call on Iran to cease its abhorrent practice of unjustly imprisoning foreign nationals for use as political leverage, and to immediately release U.S. citizens Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz, and Siamak Namazi,” Patel said.
