[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8691-8692]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              AMIR HEKMATI

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, in Flint, MI, a family anxiously awaits 
word of when their son and brother will return to them. For more than 
600 days, Amir Hekmati has been imprisoned in Iran, accused of spying 
for the United States. His capture, detention, trial and sentencing 
have brought great anxiety to his loved ones here in the United States.
  Amir, who spent much of his childhood in Michigan and whose family 
still lives there, was visiting relatives in Iran in August of 2011 
when he was arrested by Iranian police. In January of 2012, an Iranian 
trial court sentenced him to death. But on March 5, 2012, Iran's 
Supreme Court overturned that sentence, ruled Amir's trial had been 
flawed and ordered a new trial.
  That was more than a year ago, and yet Amir's family still has little 
clue as to his fate. Amir has been held for much of his captivity in 
solitary confinement. He has not been granted access to his Iranian 
attorney and has been allowed only limited contact with family. 
Switzerland, which oversees U.S. interests in Iran, has not been 
granted consular access to him.
  There is no evidence that Amir was engaged in any espionage activity 
while visiting his family in Iran. There is every reason to believe--
including the ruling of the Iranian Supreme Court--that the information 
used against Amir in his original trial was deeply flawed. A videotaped 
``confession'' broadcast on Iranian television was obviously edited. 
Iranian officials have yet to make clear what charges, if any, Amir 
faces, or when he might be re-tried on those charges, even though more 
than a year has passed since his original sentence was overturned. 
Humanitarian and human rights groups including Amnesty International 
have called for Amir's release. So have a number of U.S.-based Islamic 
organizations, including Islamic Circle of North America, Islamic 
Society of North America, Muslim Public Affairs, Council, Council on 
American-Islamic Relations of Michigan, the Council of Islamic 
Organizations of Michigan, Islamic House of Wisdom, the Muslim Center 
of Detroit and the Michigan Muslim Community Council.
  Recently, Amir's family has received some limited communication with 
him. He has been able to send them letters, and an uncle in Iran has 
been given permission to visit Amir in prison. This limited contact has 
been welcome, but has only increased the family's desire to secure 
Amir's return. This desire is all the stronger because Amir's father, a 
college professor in Flint, has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. 
Ali Hekmati faces his illness wondering if he will ever again be able 
to see his son. Islamic and universal principles of compassion and 
mercy argue for his release.
  Our two nations have wide differences of opinion, many of them 
longstanding, others which have emerged more recently. But innocent 
citizens of both our nations should not

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be caught up in matters of state. I urge the Iranian government to 
recognize the humanitarian necessity of releasing Amir Hekmati and 
returning him to the Michigan family that has missed him for so long.

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