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Lebanese Activist Freed by Iran Praises Fellow Inmates, Including Little
Known Iranian US Resident

Michael Lipin

   WASHINGTON - This article originated in [1]VOA's Persian Service.

   A Lebanese U.S. permanent resident released by Iran last month after
   almost four years in prison says he formed close bonds with other
   inmates, including a little-known Iranian who also has U.S. residency.

   In a VOA Persian interview at his Washington home last week, Nizar
   Zakka shared new details of his interactions with the other detainees
   at Tehran's Evin prison, where he spent a year in solitary confinement
   after his September 2015 detention before being moved to a cell with 50
   other people. Iranian authorities released him from the prison June 11
   and allowed him to fly to Lebanon. A week later, Zakka returned to
   Washington to reunite with his three sons.

   An Iranian judge sentenced Zakka, an internet freedom activist, to 10
   years in prison in September 2016 on national security-related charges
   that Zakka dismissed as trumped up after being released. He had
   traveled to Iran in 2015 at the invitation of one of Iran's vice
   presidents to participate in a conference.

References

   1. https://ir.voanews.com/

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