Iran Tortures U.S. Hostage for Days as Zakka Refuses to ‘Capitulate to Pressure’ from Captors By Bridget Johnson
https://pjmedia.com/yellowribbonproject/contact-ceases-with-u-s-hosta
An American hostage held by Iran for 1,197 days lost contact with his family nearly two weeks ago, raising fears that Nizar Zakka — already in frail health — may have been removed from his cell to be subjected to torture.
Zakka was heard from again briefly today, according to his attorney, confirming days of punishment at the hands of the Iranians for refusing to relent to their demands.
Zakka visited Tehran in September 2015 at the invitation of the Iranian government to speak at a conference on women’s entrepreneurship and employment, and was seized as he tried to catch a return flight to Washington. The State Department even helped fund his trip, according to his colleagues.
He was sentenced to 10 years on espionage charges a year after his arrest, and his family warned months ago that Zakka is in “very bad health.”
Zakka, a Lebanese-American and permanent U.S. resident, is secretary-general of the D.C.-based IJMA3 group, which lobbies for the information and communications technology industry in the Middle East. Zakka earned degrees from the University of Texas after graduating from the Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Ga., in 1985. He used to work as a software engineer at contractor Kellogg, Brown & Root in the early ’90s.
Since being invited and kidnapped, Zakka has weathered six protest hunger strikes — all while lobbying on behalf of fellow inmates to improve their conditions and refusing to film any propaganda “confession” video for the Iranians.
Early this year, an Iranian doctor hired by Zakka’s family said the hostage may have cancer, but Iranian authorities were not allowing necessary diagnostics. CONTINUE AT SITE
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