Norton Urges State Department to Secure Safe Return of Detained D.C. Resident Emad Shargi

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) sent a letter yesterday to Secretary of State Antony Blinken following up on a letter she sent on June 8, 2022, about District of Columbia resident Emad Shargi, an American citizen who has been unjustly and inhumanely detained in Iran since 2018.

“Mr. Shargi’s family and I are deeply concerned about his well-being,” Norton said. “I appreciate the briefing the Department provided on July 13, 2022, and I am requesting an update on the latest developments in Mr. Shargi’s case and on any diplomatic efforts underway to secure his release.”

The letter follows.

February 21, 2023

The Honorable Antony Blinken

Secretary

U.S. Department of State

2201 C Street NW

Washington, DC 20522

Dear Secretary Blinken:

            I write to follow up on my June 8, 2022, letter to you and the subsequent briefing I received from the Department about District of Columbia resident Emad Shargi, an American citizen who has been unjustly and inhumanely detained in Iran since 2018. 

            I have been informed that, while visiting his wife’s family in Iran, Mr. Shargi was arrested in the middle of the night by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and forcefully taken to the notorious Evin Prison, where he was held in solitary confinement and intensely interrogated for eight months.  He was then released and cleared of the fabricated charges, but was denied the return of his travel documents and banned from leaving the country.  In November 2020, he was sentenced, without a trial, to 10 years in prison on fabricated charges.  He remains in Evin Prison today. 

Mr. Shargi’s family and I are deeply concerned about his well-being.  I, once again, request that you prioritize the immediate release of Mr. Shargi and seek pathways to secure his safe return to D.C.  I appreciate the briefing the Department provided on July 13, 2022, and I request an update on the latest developments in Mr. Shargi’s case and on any diplomatic efforts underway to secure his release.

Sincerely,

Eleanor Holmes Norton

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