'Mistreated in prison, family kept in the dark' – ex-colleague of detained Iranian journalist to RT

US-born journalist Marzieh Hashemi had her religious rights violated in jail, where she was put shortly after coming to the US from Iran, her representative has told RT. Her family, meanwhile, has received no answers from the FBI.

Nargess Moballeghi, an independent journalist and former colleague of Hashemi, who was detained by US federal agents in St. Louis on Sunday, told RT that the 59-year-old's family has been kept in the dark by the US authorities about the cause of their mother and grandmother's detention.

Hashemi is a US citizen who was born in New Orleans into a Christian African-American family. She converted to Islam in the wake of the 1979 Islamic revolution and has gained recognition for anchoring programs on Press TV, an English-language Iranian network.

Hashemi was detained by the FBI as she was about to board an internal US flight from Lambert International Airport in St. Louis to Denver, meaning that when the FBI swooped down on her, she had already crossed the US border, Moballeghi told RT, speaking on Hashemi's behalf.

While her case instantly hit international headlines, little to nothing is known about the reason for her abrupt detention as the FBI withholds any information. Moballeghi said that the journalist's family was not given details by the US authorities either. The only information they have is that Hashemi was detained as a material witness in some unspecified case. Her children, who all live in the US, have also been subpoenaed and "have no idea why," said Moballeghi, who is keeping contact with Hashemi's family. It was initially reported that Hashemi was to face court on Friday, but even that is not clear now.

Courtesy : RT