Press TV anchor Hashemi briefs journalists on US detention

Press TV anchor Marzieh Hashemi, who has been recently released from a US jail and arrived in Iran, has talked to reporters about her days in detention without any charge.

Hashemi, who arrived at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport on Wednesday night, is an American-born Muslim convert who has lived in Iran for years. She was detained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at St. Louis Lambert International Airport in Missouri on January 13 while in the US to visit her ill brother and other family members.

She read a statement on Saturday before speaking to Iranian and foreign reporters at the Press TV Headquarters in Tehran.

In her statement, she expressed gratitude to Press TV staff, Iranian officials and “tens of thousands of people across the world, whom I have never met, who mobilized to raise awareness of my imprisonment.”

She also criticized her ill-treatment in the prison and slammed the US for the so-called material witness law that allows detention of innocent people without any charges.

“It is a highly controversial law. For almost two decades, this law has been used to systematically target innocent Muslims in America, including political activists,” the statement said.

It added that rights organizations and even the United States’ own court of laws have called the law “unconstitutional and illegal.”

Later in her press conference, Hashemi further talked about reasons behind her imprisonment, saying there was nothing significant or specific about it and that it was merely “a fishing expedition.”

Asked about the details of her charge, she once again reiterated that she faced no charges.

“There were no charges. I was never charged. That’s the whole point. I was shackled and taken there as a material witness and I answered the questions they asked. As for … giving the evidence, there was nothing to give anything about,” Hashemi said.

She added that “it was just a matter of trying to intimidate me,” stressing there was “nothing concrete” and that “there was no case to give evidence about.”

Hashemi was released on January 23 after some 10 days of detention without charge at a Washington, DC, facility.

A US federal court failed to indict the journalist, who was arrested as a material witness in an unspecified criminal proceeding.

Hashemi’s detention prompted condemnation in the US and abroad, sparking rallies in several countries, including the United States.

In an address during demonstrations in Washington, DC., Hashemi recounted her ordeal during her time in jail and mistreatment by the American justice system.

While in detention, she was forced to remove her hijab and was only offered non-halal food. Following her release, her family issued a statement, reiterating the need for justice in similar cases.