CNN
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A US citizen detained in Jordan is looking on the USA govt to call for his go back to the United States and launching a starvation strike to protest his imprisonment.
Bassem Awadallah, a twin US-Jordanian citizen, was once arrested in April 2021 and sentenced to fifteen years in jail on fees of incitement towards the state and sowing sedition in connection to an effort Jordanian government allege was once led via Prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein to “destabilize” the dominion. Representatives for Awadallah known as the costs “fabricated,” and Hamzah has denied the allegations.
Awadallah, a former Jordan finance minister, is launching a starvation strike to name consideration to his “unjust imprisonment” and urging each Biden management officers and Republican lawmakers in Congress to recommend his liberate, his US attorney Michael Sullivan mentioned in a observation launched via representatives for Awadallah.
“The U.S. Government should make it clear to King Abdullah and his government that continued support depends on Jordan’s commitment to human rights especially when it concerns the rights of U.S. citizens,” Sullivan mentioned.
“It is our hope that the new Republican leadership of the House of Representatives will seek answers from the Biden Administration on what steps are being taken to secure Bassem’s release,” he added.
Awadallah’s starvation strike comes weeks after Siamak Namazi, an American wrongfully detained in Iran, went on a seven-day starvation strike in an try to urge President Joe Biden to push for his liberate. Namazi has been detained in Iran since 2015. During his starvation strike, a US National Security Council spokesperson mentioned the management remained “committed to securing the freedom of Siamak Namazi and we are working tirelessly to bring him home along with all US citizens who are wrongfully detained in Iran, including Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz.”
Awadallah may be a former adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. CNN has in the past reported that in a while after his arrest, Saudi Arabia despatched a delegation to Jordan headed via Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. Both the Saudi and Jordanian governments have denied that the assembly was once associated with Awadallah’s arrest.
The observation from Awadallah’s representatives mentioned he has been subjected to “physical, psychological and emotional torture” whilst detained in Jordan and has spent his whole 22-month detention in solitary confinement. A State Department record from 2020 mentioned world and native organizations have reported incidents of torture in detention facilities in Jordan.
CNN has reached out to the State Department for remark.
