Ares Amiri, Dual-National Prisoner in Iran, Released on Furlough
Ares Amiri, a former student and employee of the British Council who has been imprisoned in Iran for over two years, has been released on temporary furlough.
According to images shared on social media, Ares Amiri, who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, was temporarily released on furlough on Wednesday, April 10th.
Ares Amiri, an employee of the British Council who had traveled to Iran multiple times to visit family members, was detained by the Ministry of Intelligence’s agents in December 2017, five days after arriving in Iran. He was later released from Evin Prison in 2018 after posting a 500 million Toman bail.
This Iranian student at Kingston University in Britain was arrested again in September 2018 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in May of the current year.
Kiomars Marzban, a satirist and prisoner in Iran, was also released on furlough on Tuesday, April 8th, after nearly two years of imprisonment.
Previously, Nazanin Zaghari, one of the dual-national prisoners in Iran, was released on furlough before Nowruz. Nazanin Zaghari, who was detained about three years ago upon her return to London along with her young daughter at Imam Khomeini Airport by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces, was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment by the court.
However, other dual-national citizens remain imprisoned in Iranian prisons. Among them is Anousheh Ashouri, a British-Iranian national who is in Evin Prison and on his 66th birthday sent an audio message from Evin Prison demanding his release.
In this audio message released on Wednesday, April 19th on the Guardian newspaper’s website, Mr. Ashouri said: “Today I am spending my 66th birthday as a hostage in a hell called Evin Prison, far from my family and loved ones.”
The U.S. State Department has repeatedly condemned the arbitrary and unlawful detention of American citizens and nationals of other countries, including Iranian dual-nationals, by the Islamic Republic regime and has called for their immediate and unconditional release.
Source: Voice of America
