Four US senators wanted to prioritize Rubio's pursuit of Reza Velizada's release
🔸 Four Democratic and Republican senators of the United States published their names addressed to Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State of the United States, and asked him to continue to release Reza Valizada, an Iranian-American citizen and former journalist of Radio Farda, from Salami prison "on a special priority".
Brian Schatz and Jackie Rosen, the Democratic senators of Hawaii and Nevada, and Marsha Blackburn and David McCormick, the Republican senators of Tennessee and Pennsylvania, were the signatories of this letter, which was published on Tuesday, September 31, coinciding with the second anniversary of Reza Velizada's imprisonment.
These four senators wrote in this letter: "We want the release and appropriate conditions of Reza and Alizada to be carried out through all available diplomatic channels with the Iranian authorities."
Reza Valizada has been imprisoned in Iran for two years and is serving 10 years in prison. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime of "cooperation with a hostile state". While condemning the arrest of this journalist, the US State Department called this action "wrong and unfair".
Reza Valizda worked with Radio Farda for 10 years. According to these four senators, his American citizenship and his cooperation with Radio Freda caused his condemnation.
🔸Radio Farda is part of Radio Free Europe/Release Radio, operating with a budget approved by the United States Congress and supervised by the United States Global Media Organization (USAGM). However, this media is journalistically independent, and Congress or the US government is not involved in its editorial decisions.
According to the senators who signed the letter, Reza Valizada's health was "significantly" damaged during his detention in Evin Prison in Tehran, and the Iranian authorities denied him medical facilities, including asthma medication.
Read the full version of this report on Radio Perda's website.