UPDATE 12- As Nizar Starts Third Week of Hunger Strike, Family Pleas For Humanitarian Release

Statement on the Continued Unlawful Detention of Internet Freedom Advocate Nizar Zakka

As Nizar Starts Third Week of Hunger Strike, Family Pleas For Humanitarian Release

Fifteen days ago Internet freedom advocate Nizar Zakka started his fifth hunger strike in Evin Prison to protest inhumane treatment at the hands of Iranian captors who have held him hostage since September 18, 2015.

In a quick phone call to family this weekend, Mr. Zakka said it is “too late to stop the hunger strike,” adding that he was being physically “tortured” by the Iranians. The Zakka family issued the following statement:

“We urge the international community, and specially the U.S. and Lebanese governments, as well as all the Human Rights Organizations to help Nizar. Nizar’s basic human and fundamental rights are being violated. Nizar’s his health severely weakened due to his continuing Hunger Strike for past 15 days, while the world is watching silently.”

Ms. Shahindokht Molaverdi, a member of Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet, who also serves as the Vice President of Iran for Women and Family Affairs, invited Mr. Zakka in the summer of 2015 to speak at a technology conference for women and families.

After several days in Iran, and after a seemingly successful event that was public and covered on social media, Nizar was detained en route to the airport on September 18, 2015. It is believed that he has been held at Evin Prison ever since.

More information on Nizar Zakka’s case can be found below.

Matter of Nizar Zakka – Hostage in Iran (YouTube)

Prior Statements and Releases

July 5, 2017July 3, 2019

UPDATE 11- Nizar on Fifth Hunger Strike, Now “Open Ended”

Statement on the Continued Unlawful Detention of Internet Freedom Advocate Nizar Zakka

Nizar On Fifth Hunger Strike, Now “Open Ended”

Nine days ago Internet freedom advocate Nizar Zakka started his fifth hunger strike in Evin Prison to protest inhumane treatment at the hands of Iranian captors who have held him hostage since September 18, 2015. Unfortunately, the hunger strike is already taking a physical toll with his blood pressure reportedly reaching dangerously low-levels of approximately 70/50, complicating existing physical problems that are not being addressed. Nizar has also been moved and isolated, again, from fellow prisoners because he refuses to eat. He has also been forced to sign documents that he cannot understand.

In a personal letter to Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, one of Nizar’s three sons, Mr. Nadim Zakka, told Rouhani that his father “is now on an open-ended hunger strike and is in very poor health,” stressing that he is very worried for Nizar’s life. “Please stop our suffering before it is too late,” Nadim concluded.

Nizar’s lawyer in the United States, Jason Poblete, said that “as he has done throughout this ordeal, Nizar maintains his innocence. He only wishes a transparent judicial system were available to prove it; that is not the case in Iran. The Zakka family asks for continued prayers and support as well as the unconditional release of Nizar. The Iranian government should put politics aside and release Nizar on a humanitarian basis before this matter escalates, as did the recent case of an American in North Korea.”

Nizar was kidnapped by the Iranian regime on September 18, 2015. Nizar was in Iran because he was invited to speak by Shahindokht Molaverdi at a women’s Internet conference. Molaverdi is a member of Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet and serves as the vice president of Iran for Women and Family Affairs.

More information on Nizar Zakka’s case can be found below.

Matter of Nizar Zakka – Hostage in Iran (YouTube)

Prior Statements and Releases

June 29, 2017October 5, 2020

UPDATE 10- Nizar Zakka Begins Fifth Hunger Strike, Iran Responds With Torture

Statement on the Continued Unlawful Detention of Internet Freedom Advocate Nizar Zakka

Nizar Begins Fifth Hunger Strike, Iran Responds With Torture

Internet freedom advocate Nizar Zakka started his fifth hunger strike in Evin Prison this Tuesday. Nizar issued the following statement today:

“I will not sign a forced confession or accept anything less than my freedom and innocence. I would rather die with my head [held] high. I plead with those in a position to help, including the United Nations Secretary General and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, for my release, and the release of fellow innocent Americans and others being held in Iran.

After Nizar started his hunger strike on Tuesday, he says that Evin Prison guards increased the physical and psychological pressures on him. Among other things, they have put him on a very small surface, elevated high off the ground but without a ladder. Because of his weakened physical state, Nizar says that he has a very difficult time moving around and continues to fear for his life and safety.

Nizar’s lawyer in the United States, Jason Poblete, said that “Nizar and his family remain hopeful, despite the difficult circumstances, that the powers that be will be able to find a prompt resolution and secure Nizar’s release on humanitarian grounds. These violations of fundamental freedoms must stop.”

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Prior Statements and Releases

June 27, 2017July 3, 2019

UPDATE 9- Statement on the Continued Unlawful Detention of Nizar Zakka

Nizar Zakka, U.S. Legal Permanent Resident and Internet Freedom Advocate, Begins 5th Hunger Strike

The following statement was issued by Mr. Nizar Zakka, who has been detained at Evin Prison in Tehran since September 2015, regarding his continued unlawful detention by Iran.

Prior Statements and Releases

May 5, 2017July 3, 2019

UPDATE 8-Statement on Continued Unlawful Detention of Zakka

Congress Introduces Resolution Urging Unconditional Release of Nizar Zakka and all U.S. Persons Held Unlawfully in Iran

On May 4, several members of Congress, including the Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), introduced H. Res. 317, a resolution calling for the unconditional release of United States citizens and legal permanent residents being held for political purposes by the Iranian regime.

The legislation includes Mr. Nizar Zakka, a United States legal permanent resident and Lebanese national, whose health is in a dire state, was unlawfully detained on September 18, 2015, in Iran after attending a women’s Arab Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) conference, at the invitation of Iranian government officials, and was later falsly charged of being a spy sentenced to 10 years at Evin prison.

Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen released the following statement regarding the resolution:

“The obvious result of paying a rogue regime a ransom for the return of hostages was that it would incentivize the taking of even more hostages. And that is precisely what happened when Iran was paid a $1.7 billion ransom for American hostages. Since then, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps has taken hostage Siamak and Baquer Namazi, Karan Vafadari and at least one other American citizen, as well as permanent legal residents Nizar Zakka and Afarin Niasari, sentencing them on trumped up charges. What’s worse is that Iran is now using this hostage taking tactic with dual-nationals of other western nations, like the UK, France, Germany and Canada, in order to exact political and financial concessions.

“All responsible nations must send a strong message to the regime in Tehran that this tactic will not pay off – the regime must release all hostages unconditionally. We must also hold the Iranian regime accountable for locating and returning Congressman Deutch’s constituent, Robert Levinson, who went missing in Iran in 2007 and is the longest held civilian hostage in America’s history. That is why Nita Lowey, Ted Poe, Ted Deutch and I introduced this resolution, and why we will continue to press Iran to release all hostages.”

Mr. Zakka’s attorney, Mr. Jason Poblete, released the following press release after the introduction of the resolution to the Congress;

Prior Statements and Releases