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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday handed a loss to Republicans by allowing Pennsylvania voters who sent mail-in ballots that were flagged as being potentially defective to submit a separate provisional in-person ballot. The justices rejected, with no noted dissents, a Republican request to put on hold a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling from last week. The Supreme Court action does not definitively resolve the legal issue, which could yet return to the justices. Many of Pennsylvania's counties, which administer elections, already allowed for voters to cast provisional ballots if their mail-in ballots lacked a secrecy envelope even before the recent state Supreme Court ruling. Genser and Matis lost in a trial court, but an intermediate appeals court and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in their favor, prompting Republicans to appeal again to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Persons: WASHINGTON —, Ben Geffen, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Alito, Geffen, Rick Hasen, Harris, Walz, Donald Trump, encroaches, Donald Trump’s, Faith Genser, Frank Matis, Genser, Matis, Joe Biden Organizations: Republicans, Pennsylvania, Republican, Supreme, Democratic, Pennsylvania Supreme, UCLA School of Law, NBC, Democratic National Committee, Republican National, U.S, U.S . Constitution, Trump, Butler, Republican National Committee Locations: Pennsylvania, Butler County, Pennsylvania's, U.S .

☆ Exclusive: American held for 8 years in notorious Iranian prison tells of ordeal
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-23 | by ( Ben Kirby | Claire Calzonetti | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

Namazi previously spoke with Amanpour by phone in March 2023 from inside Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, in what was an unprecedented interview. “That is the smell of freedom.” Forty years later, Siamak Namazi emerged into the night air after eight years in prison. The logistics of his prison interview weren’t complicated. And it’s not just an American problem: Evin Prison is “a dystopian United Nations of hostages,” Namazi says, with many countries’ citizens behind bars. Emotion in his voice, Namazi tells Amanpour that, eventually, he’d like to meet the man who freed him.

Persons: Siamak, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, ”, Namazi, Amanpour, Babak, ” Namazi’s, Siamak Namazi, “, Jonathan Ernst, …, Joe, Biden, ” ‘, ” Namazi, Dave, I’m, “ unutterable, Namazi’s, Saddam, Hussein, ’, Zahra Kazemi, I’d, Jared Genser, Genser, he’d, could’ve, Christiane Amanpour, Neil Hallsworth, crackly, Emad, Morad Tahbaz, Donald Trump, –, Antony Blinken, Janet Yellen, wasn’t, Biden’s Organizations: CNN, Obama, Trump, Getty, State Department, New York Times, Evin, Republicans, United Nations, United, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Locations: American, Iran, United States, AFP, ”, Evin, America, Vienna, Austria, United States of America, Republic, White Plains , New York, Islamic Republic, Iranian, New York, United Nations

☆ Four Americans wrongfully detained in Iran released on house arrest, signaling a potential end to their imprisonment
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Christiane Amanpour | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Four Americans who have been wrongfully detained in Iran have been released from prison and are now under house arrest, a lawyer for one of the prisoners told CNN on Thursday, a sign that they may soon be freed from years of imprisonment. “The move by Iran of the American hostages from Evin Prison to an expected house arrest is an important development,” said Jared Genser, pro bono counsel to Siamak Namazi, one of those released. The Biden administration has been engaged in negotiations to try to secure their release from Iran, a country with which it does not have diplomatic relations. Genser strongly cautioned against being overly optimistic about freedom for the Americans until they are actually out of Iran. CNN has reached out to the US State Department and National Security Council for comment.

Persons: ”, Jared Genser, Siamak, – Namazi, Emad, Morad Tahbaz, Biden, Genser Organizations: CNN, Four, US State Department and National Security Council Locations: Iran, American, Tehran’s

One other prisoner, an American woman, had been released into house arrest earlier, according to several people familiar with the arrangements. “But there are simply no guarantees about what happens from here.”He said the Americans were told they would be held at the hotel under guard by Iranian officials. Biden administration officials declined to comment or to confirm details about what Iran will get in return. But the people familiar with the agreement said that when the Americans are allowed to return to the United States, the Biden administration will release a handful of Iranian nationals serving prison sentences for violating sanctions on Iran. The United States will also transfer nearly $6 billion of Iran’s assets in South Korea, putting the funds into an account in the central bank of Qatar, according to the people familiar with the deal.

Persons: Genser, Mr, ”, Biden, United States — Organizations: Evin, United, State Department Locations: Iran, Tehran, American, United States, South Korea, Qatar

"The move by Iran of the American hostages from Evin Prison to an expected house arrest is an important development," Genser said in a statement. A second source familiar with the indirect U.S.-Iranian talks said it could be weeks before the U.S. citizens could leave Iran, saying September was a possible time frame. Namazi, who in 2016 was convicted of espionage-related charges the United States has rejected as baseless, has been detained by Iran for more than seven years. His father, Baquer, was allowed to leave Iran in October for medical treatment after being detained on similar charges also rejected by Washington. Tahbaz was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for "assembly and collusion against Iran's national security" and working for the United States as a spy.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Tehran's, Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz, Jared Genser, Genser, Adrienne Watson, Joe Biden, Baquer, Tahbaz, Shargi, Arshad Mohammed, Parisa Hafezi, Humeyra Pamuk, Jeff Mason, Jasper Ward, Dan Whitcomb, Mark Porter, Lisa Shumaker, Grant McCool Organizations: REUTERS, WASHINGTON, U.S, Iranian, Security, eventual, Democrat, Washington, Iran's, Thomson Locations: DUBAI, Iran, South Korea, United States, U.S, Washington, Tehran, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Dubai

"The move by Iran of the American hostages from Evin Prison ... is an important development," Genser said in a statement. Iran's mission to the United Nations, however, told Iranian state media the release of the dual nationals from prison was part of a U.S.-Iranian prisoner exchange deal. The five Americans will be allowed to leave Iran after $6 billion of Iranian funds in South Korea are unfrozen, a source told Reuters. Karim Sadjadpour, a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace analyst, said Iranian Americans should still avoid travel to Iran. "This deal will reinforce the view of (Iran's) Revolutionary Guards that hostage taking is a lucrative practice with minimal costs," he said.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Tehran's, Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz, Jared Genser, Genser, Adrienne Watson, Joe Biden, Henry Rome, Donald Trump, Karim Sadjadpour, Namazi, Tahbaz, Shargi, Arshad Mohammed, Parisa Hafezi, Humeyra Pamuk, Jeff Mason, Jasper Ward, Dan Whitcomb, Mark Porter, Lisa Shumaker, Grant McCool Organizations: REUTERS, WASHINGTON, U.S, Iranian, National Security, United Nations, Reuters, South, Democrat, Washington Institute for Near East, Republican, Carnegie Endowment, International Peace, Guards, Iran's, Thomson Locations: DUBAI, Iran, South Korea, United States, U.S, Washington, Tehran, Qatar, IRAN, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Rome, Dubai

Siamak Namazi, left, a U.S. citizen who has been held prisoner in Iran for nearly eight years, with his father, Baquer Namazi. The U.S. government has identified three American citizens held in Iran — Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz. NBC News first reported on the prisoner exchange negotiations in February. The families of the Americans held in Iran say their loved ones are "hostages" taken captive on false charges and used as bargaining chips by the government. And Siamak Namazi has been held prisoner in Iran for nearly eight years, longer than any of the other current American detainees.

Persons: Siamak Namazi, Baquer Namazi, Barack Obama, Emad, Shahab Dalili, Jared Genser, Namazi, Joe Biden, Obama, Biden, Donald Trump, Tahbaz, Shargi, Baquer, Robert Levinson, Levinson, Bob Levinson Organizations: NBC, Administration, NBC News, International Atomic Energy Agency, U.S, Congress, British, Tufts, Rutgers, FBI, CIA Locations: U.S, Iran, Tehran, Washington, Qatar, South Korea, United States, Israel, Iranian American, Iranian, Iran's

☆ Nicaragua dissident Felix Maradiaga and Berta Valle on fighting for justice and family life
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Melissa Mahtani | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Many were accused of treason or involvement in “illicit activities” for having contact with foreign journalists or human rights’ organizations that the Ortega regime views as a threat. He gave me, for example, the name of our international human rights lawyer, Jared Genser, who became my angel through all of this. Both spoke at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy in May, where Maradiaga was awarded the 2023 Courage Award. Those Nicaraguans who only are asking for the protection of basic human rights and human dignity. “After all this work that we do as human rights defenders, there’s a private life that also has to be taken care of.

Persons: CNN — It’s, Felix Maradiaga, –, Maradiaga, Berta Valle, Berta, I’m, Washington ’, ”, “, Félix, Daniel Ortega –, Ortega, ” Maradiaga, ‘, ’ Maradiaga, Daniel Ortega, Ned Price, ” Price, Valle, Jared Genser, It’s, he’s, “ It’s, Alejandra, ” Valle, Nicaragua –, I’ve, that’s, Pope Francis, Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Kara, Murza, pic.twitter.com, —, there’s Organizations: CNN, State Department, Nicaraguan, Geneva, Human Rights, Democracy, US State Department, Dulles International Airport, UN, Oslo Freedom, Catholic Church, Central American, National Assembly of Locations: United States, Valle, Nicaragua, Washington, Miami, American, Nicaraguan, Oslo, National Assembly of Nicaragua, China, Hong Kong, Venezuela, Cuba, Afghanistan, Ukraine, “

☆ Jailed Iranian American appeals to Biden, starts hunger strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Arshad Mohammed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Siamak Namazi made the plea in a letter to Biden seven years to the day that Iran released five other U.S. citizens in a prisoner exchange choreographed to coincide with the implementation of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Namazi, whose father was allowed to leave Iran in October for medical treatment after being detained on espionage-related charges rejected by Washington, said he would be on a hunger strike for the same seven days. read more"All I want sir, is one minute of your days' time for the next seven days devoted to thinking about the tribulations of the U.S. hostages in Iran," he added. Asked for comment, a White House national security council spokesperson said the government was committed to securing Namazi's freedom. "We are working tirelessly to bring him home along with all U.S. citizens who are wrongfully detained in Iran," the spokesperson said.

☆ At least four killed in fire at Iran's notorious Evin Prison, amid anti-government protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Henry Austin | Henry Austin Is A London-Based Editor For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

At least four people were killed and 61 injured after a large fire broke out at a notorious prison housing political prisoners and anti-government activists in Iran‘s capital, state-run news agency IRNA reported Sunday, citing the country's judiciary. Damage caused by a fire at the Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran late Saturday. Iranian state media has reported that at least 60 people have died since the beginning of the protests in Iran. He is safe and has been moved to a secure area of Evin Prison. Several other dual national Iranians and foreign citizens are held in Evin prison.

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