by praveen | Dec 18, 2017 | Arrest and Detention, Case Studies, Latest News, Pretrial Rights
Families Of Americans Imprisoned In Egypt Pin Their Hopes On … Mike Pence …Nearly 20 U.S. citizens have become used to a different kind of Egyptian hospitality. One is a 52-year-old father who only receives his diabetes medication at random intervals, during the odd visit when prison guards decide relatives including his wife and two daughters can hand it to him. He has spent more than four years in detention without an official verdict or sentence. Another is 27 years old and desperate to complete the degree he was working on when security officers arrested him for being in the vicinity of a political protest. He had gone to the area to help his grandfather catch a bus. The two men, Mustafa Kassem and Ahmed Etiwy, and others who have yet to be publicly identified are caught up in what rights groups call the worst wave of repression in modern Egyptian history. Advocates for them and other detainees with ties to the U.S., like a pair of green card holders with multiple family members in America, see Pence’s trip as a vital moment. It’s the last chance this year for President Donald Trump’s “America First” administration ― which loudly celebrated its role in helping one detained U.S. citizen out of Egyptian custody earlier this year ― to make a real difference on the issue. Demands that Sisi release the jailed Americans “need not dominate the meetings nor distract from other important issues, yet can and do achieve big results,” said Praveen Madhiraju, a pro bono attorney for Kassem and Etiwy at the nonprofit Pretrial Rights International. Read...
by PRI | Apr 28, 2015 | Case Studies, Pretrial Rights
On Tuesday, the US Senate will commence what may prove to be a monumental foreign policy debate as it considers legislation to provide for Congressional review and oversight of agreements relating to Iran’s nuclear program. Among a number of amendments already filed are several intended to promote the release of US citizens currently detained in Iran. While it is unclear whether such an amendment will be included in the bill — which represents a hard-fought, delicate compromise between the Administration and both Republicans and Democrats in Congress — the amendments will at least serve to shed light on the issue of pretrial detention in Iran, and hopefully, will contribute to the potential release of Americans unlawfully detained there. One of those American detainees, Jason Rezaian, is a Washington Post reporter who has been in pretrial detention for the last 9 months. The Iranian Revolutionary Court has never publicly disclosed the charges against him, and there has yet to be a date set for trial. He has reportedly been denied treatment and was only granted access to his attorney in the last week. At the end of his speech at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner this weekend, President Obama asserted that his Administration would not rest until Mr. Rezaian is freed to return home. Regardless of the fate of well-intentioned Senate amendments advocating for the release of Americans detained in Iran, we are encouraged by the attention and commitment offered by both branches of government, and we hope they continue to work together to secure Mr. Rezaian’s...
