IRIB staff protest Press TV anchor’s detention by US

PressTV-Global rallies planned to urge Press TV anchor’s release
Rallies are scheduled in 24 cities across the globe on January 25 to demand the release of the Iranian news network’s Marzieh Hashemi who has been imprisoned in the US for 11 days without charge.

‘Hashemi’s arrest, a kind of abduction’

Interviewed by Press TV during the gathering, Jebelli said the behavior of the US government in arresting Hashemi “for no reason” was “not acceptable.”

“We don’t have any information about the reasons behind the arrest of our colleague Mrs. Marzieh Hashemi. All we know is that she has been arrested and has been put in jail in a very bad situation for no reason,” he said.

He added that the gathering in front of the UN office in Tehran was meant “to condemn the behavior of the US government” and described Hashemi’s arrest as “a kind of kidnapping.”

Jebelli also said it was not acceptable for the US to use Hashemi in an attempt to pressure the Islamic Republic.

He said the IRIB’s World Service has been giving wide coverage to her case and is cooperating with relevant bodies inside Iran, including the Foreign Ministry, “to defend Hashemi’s rights.”

“They are beginning the legal action to make sure Marzieh is released as soon as possible,” he explained.

‘Hashemi paying price for being voice of the voiceless’

Abdolhossein, also interviewed at the protest site, said Hashemi was “paying the price for being actually the voice of the voiceless. That’s the reason behind her arrest.”

“What we are protesting here, as Marzieh’s colleagues, is that she is a mother, she is a journalist, she is a Muslim African-American, and she’s got nothing to do with politics. So this is not acceptable actually to see her being treated as a criminal. She has not committed any crime; that is according to the US officials,” he added.

He added that the message of the gathering was that, “Marzieh is not alone. We are here in solidarity with her and want to send the message that actually ‘you cannot silence the voice of the voiceless, you cannot silence the truth.’”

Tehran University professor Foad Izadi was also among the crowd of protesters. He had these words to say about the US jailing of Hashemi in a talk with Press TV’s correspondent: