The continuing plight of Americans imprisoned in Iran

Amanpour

CNN

News

4.1 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 20 April 2023

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich went to court in Moscow this week, to request his pre-trial detention be under house arrest, rather than jail. No surprise, he was denied. He’s the latest American to be picked up and thrown behind bars by a foreign government – a trend on the rise, according to the James Foley Foundation, and it’s breaking families apart. Three Americans detained in Iran are desperate to be freed, so much so, one of them – Siamak Namazi, made the bold decision to call this program from Evin Prison, and plead with President Biden to help free them all. But weeks pass, and there they remain, hostage to the political winds. Siamak’s brother Babak has been working tirelessly for years to free him, and so has Tara Tahbaz on behalf of her father, Morad Tahbaz who is also detained there. The two of them spoke to Christiane alongside Jason Rezaian, who was imprisoned in Iran himself, before being released in a 2016 prisoner swap. Also on today's show: Tamara Rojo, Artistic Director, San Francisco Ballet; Laura Trevelyan, former BBC journalist To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone and welcome to Ammanpur. Here's what's coming up.
0:07.0	We don't even remember what life is like.
0:11.0	We're not this trauma and this horror.
0:16.0	A desperate plea from heartbroken families.
0:19.0	I speak to the loved ones of Americans still behind bars in Iran and former prisoner
0:25.0	Jason Rizayyan about the troubling rise in US citizens locked up abroad.
0:30.8	Then
0:31.8	Putting abroad. Then, putting women's centre stage, world-renowned ballerina Tamara Rojo on her trailblazing
0:40.8	career and being the first female to lead America's oldest ballet company.
0:45.6	Plus wrestling with a dark past. British journalist Laura Trevellian tells Michelle Martin
0:52.0	how she's making amends for her slave-holding ancestors. Welcome to the program everyone. I'm Christina Manpur in London. It's an image
1:17.1	that no American, no family member wants to see a fellow citizen, a loved one
1:21.8	sealed in a glass cage inside the Lions
1:24.9	Den. The world got a glimpse of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gerskovich
1:29.5	this week when he went to court in Moscow to request that his pretrial detention be
1:34.7	under house arrest rather than jail. No surprise he was denied.
1:39.3	Gerschkovich was arrested by Russian authorities two weeks ago on charges of espionage, which he denies.
1:46.7	The United States says that he is wrongfully detained.
1:49.7	Gershkovich is the latest American to be picked up and thrown behind bars by a foreign government,
1:55.2	a trend on the rise according to the James Foley Foundation and its breaking families apart.
2:02.2	Three Americans wrongfully detained in Iran are
2:05.3	desperate to be freed, so much so that one of them, Siamak Namasi, made the
	...

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