Jailed ex-Marine Amir Hekmati has called on Iranian authorities to deport him, accusing the government of using American prisoners as “bargaining chips.”
Hekmati, who was jailed on charges of espionage in 2011, has repeatedly said he is innocent, appealing to authorities to release him. In the last six months, he has written to a number of senior officials, including President Hassan Rouhani, describing his ordeal while in prison — he has been subjected to lashes, mental torture and sleep deprivation, and was in solitary confinement for more than a year.
In a December 2014 letter to judiciary head Sadegh Larijani and Mahmoud Alavi, the Minister of Intelligence, Hekmati said: “I love the country where my parents come from, Iran, as much as much I love the United States, the country where I grew up.” So his latest appeal expressing willingness to revoke his Iranian citizenship has been seen as a departure, a poignant, telling sign of the distress he is in and his desperation to return to his family in the United States — and especially to his father, who has terminal cancer. Hekmati’s family has issued a statement saying that, if authorities release him, he would “never return” to the country.
The recent appeal has come just days before the deadline set by Iran and the P5+1 countries to come to a nuclear negotiation, a fresh bid to alert the international community to his case and to appeal to authorities to act on his behalf.
But what impact will this development have on his case? Has a dual national prisoner in Iran ever been released after deciding to give up his Iranian nationality? IranWire spoke to prominent Iranian lawyer Shadi Sadr about Hekmati’s case, about the potential impact of nuclear negotiations and on the need for US officials and the international community to speak up on the case while the world still has its eyes on Iran.
Are you aware of any of this kind of thing having happened in the past, where a dual national in Iran has asked to be deported in order to be released from prison?
As far as I remember, this is the first time that a prisoner has made such a request. But it’s important to note that this is a desperate message from a prisoner who is tired of being tortured, intimidated and detained, and tired of being used as a tool in US-Iranian relations. From a legal point of view, this does not have any meaning; it cannot have any consequence or impact on his case. If you look at Iranian law, any Iranian national can voluntarily request for their nationality to be revoked. A commission in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in charge of those kinds of requests, which are rare.
But nationality is only one thing. Criminal responsibility is another. According to Iranian law, it’s not only Iranian nationals who are responsible for crimes they commit. Foreign nationals who commit crimes against national security or espionage are also responsible — and they can be charged and sentenced.
What makes Amir Hekmati precious for the Iranian government is that he’s American, and the fact that he was in the American military. He is a very good case for the Iranian government – in terms of bargaining.
What legal tools does his lawyer, Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei, have at his disposal?
As far as I understand, Hekmati’s sentence has been confirmed. The re-trial process is complete; every single legal channel has been tried. This case has a very important political side. I think the only way to get him out is by increasing political pressure, and through raising awareness, and by news reports on the case. I know that in these sorts of cases – Amir Hekmati and Jason Rezaian and other cases of Iranian Americans we’ve had in the past – the political relationship, the whole political atmosphere has played a significant role. This is the only way that he will be released – with an increase in political pressure. It’s the only hope. His letter could be a good tool for advocacy and could be used to help gather signatures [for his release], for news outlets. It’s an important tool to ensure he’s not forgotten.
At the end of the day, the lawyer – who is himself under a lot pressure – cannot be expected to do a lot.
What pressures is his lawyer under?
I don’t know for a fact what he’s experienced, but I know about the general context for lawyers, especially those working on these kinds of cases.
As a human rights lawyer, it’s very common to get a call from an unknown number. It’s usually the Intelligence Ministry or security forces. Lawyers are interrogated for three or four hours — and threatened with arrest. This is not rare in Iran: some of the most prominent human rights lawyers are in prison. Agents suggest ways to avoid arrest — for example, not giving interviews to the media, or not raising awareness about the case. They are regularly threatened with having their licences taken away from them. Sometimes there are threats against a lawyer’s family.
In the case of Amir Hekmati’s lawyer, I would imagine he speaks fluent English. He was hired by an American family, so he is probably approached by foreign journalists; he might be approached by American authorities. These kinds of things are enough to be accused of being a spy. So not only has Amir Hekmati been charged with espionage, but his lawyer might be threatened with charges of espionage. He might even be charged.
Do you think judicial authorities will respond?
I don’t think so – unless journalists ask them. The top man in the judiciary has weekly press conferences. So if a journalist asks him, he has to respond.
I think it’s the American authorities’ turn now. They can go to Rouhani’s government, to [Foreign Minister] Zarif and the others in Geneva at the moment. They are in negotiations with them every day, on a daily basis. They can ask them to release their own national — who is not willing to be an Iranian any more. If someone voluntarily decides not to be an Iranian national any more, it’s up to the American government. It’s the American authorities’ turn to do something effectively and aggressively.
Many have expressed hope that Hekmati and others, including Jason Rezaian, may be released if Iran and the P5+1 countries come to a nuclear agreement. How likely do you think this is?
The Islamic Republic is one of the most unpredictable countries in the world. So it’s very difficult to know if the negotiations will be successful, whether Amir Hekmati will be released, or whether it will have an impact on his case. On one hand, if the attention on Iran and the States is decreased and negotiations have been resolved or look as if they’re going to be resolved, there will be no point in keeping Hekmati in prison. The Iranian government won’t need to have a tool for bargaining.
But, because this is not only about Amir Hekmati’s case, but about all human rights cases and all political prisoners, there is a serious concern that if they resolve the nuclear issue, the United States and other western countries will lose interest in human rights in Iran. So he could be forgotten; his case could be even more neglected than it is now. It’s a very crucial time. If you look at the American and European approaches in the past couple of years since Rouhani came to power and the negotiations really started, you’ll see it’s a new atmosphere. If you compare it with, for example, the last two years of Ahmadinejad’s term, it is easy to see that the European Union was much more active then, very reactive on issues of public executions, juvenile executions, and other human rights violations. When the same things have happened during the Rouhani era, they haven’t reacted at all.
In 2011, the European Council passed a resolution to adopt human rights sanctions and take restrictive measures, like freezing assets of and travel bans on those who have been involved in gross human rights violations. The council has to review and revise the list of sanctions twice a year. But the last meeting they had to review and discuss human rights sanctions against Iranian officials was held in March 2013. Since Rouhani came to power in August 2013, they have never had a meeting. They are obliged to do this under their own regulations to have these meetings, but they haven’t.
They have put everything on pause, everything on hold.
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