Courthouse Square

510 King Street, Suite 350

Alexandria, Virginia
P 703.566.3037

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Ms. Cara Di Silvio

Thursday, March 15, 2018 +1.703.566.3037

Statement on the Continued Unlawful Detention of

Internet Freedom Advocate/Prisoner of Conscience Nizar Zakka
Today members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved H.R. 4744,
The Iran Human Rights and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act. The measure will
result in additional sanctions on Iranian officials involved in hostage-taking of U.S.
citizens and U.S. Legal Permanent Residents.

On behalf of Mr. Nizar Zakka and his family, Mr. Zakka's lawyer in the United
States, Mr. Jason Poblete, issued the following statement:

“Nizar and his family thank members of the Congress, especially Congressmen McCaul,
Deutch, Royce, and Engel, the original cosponsors of the bill, for sending a clear message
to the Iranian regime that hostage-taking of U.S. citizens and U.S. Legal Permanent
Residents will not go unanswered. Mr. Zakka hopes this action, and the many other
efforts by President Trump and his national security team will lead to Nizar’s
unconditional release as well as the unconditional release of all unlawfully detained
persons in Iran.”
###

Mr. Zakka traveled to Iran in September 2015, at the invitation of Iran's Vice
President for Women and Family Affairs Shahindokht Molaverdi, to speak at a
conference on the use of technology and the Internet to promote social, economic, and
educational development in the region. After the meeting, en route to the airport, Mr.
Zakka was taken by persons believed to be associated with the IRGC's Basij or the
intelligence services. Nizar was unlawfully detained on September 18, 2015, the day
before the U.S. Congress voted on the JCPOA political agreement between the United
States and Iran.

Nizar has been falsely accused of espionage. In a March 2018 statement to the
United Nations, Iranian officials, again, falsely accused Nizar of being involved in a
“plot for overthrowing the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Despite the
pressures, including psychological and physical torture, as well as several hunger
strikes, Nizar has maintained his innocence and has refused to sign forced confessions.


Alexandria, Virginia
 The Iranian government has sent mixed signals about Nizar’s case including a
statement by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on November 7, 2016 that “[w]hat
happened with Mr. Zakka is not a problem between Iran and Lebanon, seeing as the
problem was the violation of the applicable laws in Iran by a foreigner, and the problem
is actually between the United States and Iran.”

Last year the US Congress approved two Congressional Resolutions urging,

among other things, that President Donald Trump make the “release of United States
citizens and legal permanent resident aliens held hostage by the Government of Iran the
highest of priorities … and that the United States and its allies whose nationals have
been detained consider establishing a multinational task force to secure the release of
the detainees.”

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