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Hariri Tells Lebanese Detainee in Iran his Case is Followed up Diplomatically | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Mustaqbal Movement leader Prime Minister Saad Hariri. (NNA)


Beirut- Prime Minister Saad Hariri has received a phone call from Lebanese businessman Nizar Zakka from the Iranian prison where he is detained, his press office said Friday.

Zakka described the difficult conditions of his detention and his deteriorating health and asked the Lebanese government to intervene to free him, the statement said.

Hariri told Zakka that his case is being followed up through the available diplomatic channels, it added.

Secretary General of the Arab ICT Organization (Ijma’a), Zakka was arrested in Tehran in wake of his participation in a conference that was held in September 2015.

He was kidnapped while he was headed to the airport to depart the country. It was later revealed that he was detained by the Iranian authorities.

In 2016, an Iranian court sentenced him to ten years in jail and fined him 4.2 million dollars on charges of conspiring against the state. His lawyer, Badawi Abou Deeb, later appealed the sentence.

Zakka began a hunger strike in June in an attempt to pressure authorities to release him without any conditions.