material witness

U.S. citizen Marzieh Hashemi, an anchor on Iran’s English-language service Press TV, has been released without charge after being illegally detained for ten days by the FBI.
Hashemi was arrested earlier this month while boarding an internal U.S. flight from St. Louis to Denver where she had been filming a documentary on the Black Lives Matter movement. The 59-year-old African American is a convert to Islam and has been living in Iran for the past several years.

WASHINGTON — It has been more than 10 days since the FBI arrested Iranian American journalist for Iran’s Press TV Marzieh Hashemi. She is due to testify before a grand jury for a third time in an unknown criminal case on Wednesday, as protesters rally for her release outside the courthouse.
Her three children are expected to testify on Wednesday as well, according to a statement from an associate of the family.

Any discussion of the detention of journalist Marzieh Hashemi must begin in the historical context that all presidents have used the Department of Justice for constitutionally prohibited personal ends. The calculated seizure and political intimidation of Mrs. Hashemi and her family in the United States is but the most recent flagrant instance.