Episodes

Last month marked two years since Robert Pether, an Australian citizen and Irish resident, has been wrongfully imprisoned in Iraq. He is a father, a husband and an engineer. Robert and his colleague, Khalid Radwan were both detained in Baghdad on 7 April 2021 after they went to Iraq to resolve a business dispute between the Iraqi government and their Dubai-based employer, CME Consulting. CME Consulting which is an engineering firm was working on the new headquarters for the Central Bank of Iraq....

American Marine veteran, Paul Whelan and American journalist, Evan Gershkovich are both wrongfully imprisoned in Russia. The United States government has classified both men as “wrongfully detained” and has called for their immediate release. Both Paul and Evan are victims of Russia’s hostage diplomacy. We explain what hostage diplomacy is, the different types of hostage-takers, creation of the U.S. hostage enterprise, Presidential Policy Directive 30, the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Ho...

Shahab Dalili is a United States lawful permanent resident from Virginia. His wife and children are all U.S. citizens. In April 2016, Shahab went to Tehran to attend his father’s funeral. He was then arrested and has been wrongfully imprisoned in Iran to this day. According to recent news reports, there have been discussions of a potential prisoner exchange between the United States and Iran. The U.S. government has stated that no deal has been agreed. Shahab’s family are very worried that he ma...

Cecile Kohler is a French teacher and a unionist. She has always dreamed of visiting Iran. Last year, both Cecile and her partner, Jacques Paris visited Iran as tourists during the French school holidays and were arrested on their way to the airport by Iranian authorities. They have both been wrongfully imprisoned in Iran since 7 May 2022. The French government has referred to them as state hostages. In October 2022, both Cecile and Jacques were made to deliver forced “confessions” which were ai...

68-year-old German citizen, Nahid Taghavi has been held hostage in Iran since 16 October 2020. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and Amnesty International have both stated that her detention is arbitrary and have called for her immediate release. Members of the German Bundestag from multiple parties have also stated that Nahid is unjustly detained and have called for her release too. Many things have happened in Iran in the last year. On this episode, we have the honour of ...

Today is day 19 of French citizen, Benjamin Briere’s hunger strike. He has been wrongfully imprisoned in Iran since May 2020. He is one of seven French citizens currently held in Iran. The French government has referred to them as state hostages. Iran is notorious for arresting innocent foreign nationals on false charges and putting them in prison for years for the purpose of extracting concessions from their home country. This abhorrent practice is state-sponsored hostage taking also known as h...

In July 2020, Jamshid Sharmahd was kidnapped in Dubai by agents of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and taken to Iran where he is being held today. Jamshid is a German citizen and US resident who has lived in California for over 17 years. His life is in imminent danger as he may be sentenced to death and executed any day now. On this episode, we have the honour of speaking to Gazelle Sharmahd, Jamshid’s daughter once again. She brings us up to speed with what has happened since we last spoke one ...

American citizen, Kai Li from New York has been wrongfully imprisoned in China since September 2016. The U.S. government has classified Kai as being “wrongfully detained” and the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has called for Kai’s immediate release. A few days ago, Kai’s father passed away in China as a result of the surge in COVID19 cases in the country. Chinese authorities have also imposed restrictions within its prisons due to the pandemic that have significantly affecte...

British citizen, Peter Humphrey used to be a fraud investigator and a journalist based in China. Peter and his wife who is an American citizen co-founded the company, ChinaWhys which was a risk-advisory firm based in Shanghai. In July 2013, both Peter and his wife were arrested by Chinese authorities. Their teenage son and only child was separated from both his parents. China is notorious for carrying out wrongful detentions especially when it comes to foreign nationals. Both Peter and his wife ...

On 8th December 2022, American citizen and WNBA athlete Brittney Griner was freed in a prisoner swap between the United States and Russia. Unfortunately, American citizen and Marine veteran Paul Whelan also held in Russia was left behind – again. The U.S. State Department classified both Brittney and Paul as “wrongfully detained”. Next week will mark four years since Paul was arrested and wrongfully imprisoned in Russia. On this episode, we speak again to Paul’s sister, Elizabeth Whelan to find ...

Jerrel Kenemore, an American citizen from Dallas, Texas has been imprisoned in Venezuela since March this year. The U.S. State Department has classified him as “wrongfully detained”. Venezuela is notorious for taking innocent Americans captive on false charges and using them as leverage to extract concessions from the United States. This is state-sponsored hostage taking also known as hostage diplomacy. On this episode, we have the honour of speaking to Jerrel’s sister, Jeana Kenemore Tillery to...

Australian engineer and Irish resident, Robert Pether has been wrongfully imprisoned in Iraq since 7 April 2021 as a result of a commercial dispute between the Iraqi government and his Dubai-based employer, CME Consulting. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has stated that his detention is arbitrary and has called for his immediate release. We have interviewed Robert’s family three times on this podcast and we speak once again to Desree Pether, Robert’s wife. Since our last ...

Last month on 1st October, seven innocent Americans who were wrongfully imprisoned in Venezuela were released in a prisoner swap between the US and Venezuela. Eyvin Hernandez, an innocent American citizen who works for the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office was left behind. He has been held in Venezuela since March this year. The US government has classified Eyvin as wrongfully detained. On this episode, we have the honour of speaking to Eyvin’s brother, Henry Martinez. Henry walks us t...

Earlier this month on 1st October, Jose Pereira and six other innocent Americans who were wrongfully imprisoned in Venezuela for years were freed in a prisoner swap between the United States and Venezuela. Jose lives in Houston, Texas and was acting President and CEO for US oil company, CITGO Petroleum. In November 2017 shortly before Thanksgiving, Jose was instructed to travel to Venezuela with a few of his senior management colleagues to attend a business meeting in Caracas. During that meetin...

Aya Hijazi is an American citizen and a humanitarian. She is the founder and Director of the Belady Foundation that worked to help children in Egypt who lived on the streets. In May 2014 when the crackdown on civil society in Egypt was gathering pace, Egyptian police raided the Belady Foundation’s offices and arrested Aya, her husband and her colleagues. They were wrongfully imprisoned in Egypt for almost 3 years. Human Rights Watch called their wrongful imprisonment a travesty of justice. The U...

French citizen and tourist, Benjamin Briere has been held hostage in Iran since May 2020. He has been sentenced to eight years in prison for a crime he did not commit. On the day of his sentencing, the French Foreign Ministry stated that Benjamin’s “completely groundless sentence is unacceptable.” He is one of four known French citizens currently held hostage in Iran. On this episode, we have the honour of speaking to Benjamin’s sister, Blandine Briere to find out what we can do to help bring hi...

Shahab Dalili is a US permanent resident from Virginia. His wife and children are all US citizens. In April 2016, Shahab went to Tehran to attend his father’s funeral. He was then arrested and has been wrongfully imprisoned in Iran to this day. Shahab is not the only American currently held hostage in Iran. The Iranians are also holding captive: Siamak and Baquer Namazi, Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz. On this episode, we have the honour of speaking to Shahab’s son, Darian Dalili. Darian walks us ...

Australian citizen and Irish resident, Robert Pether has been wrongfully imprisoned in Iraq since 7 April 2021. He and his colleague, Khalid Radwan were both detained in Baghdad after they went to Iraq to resolve a business dispute between the Iraqi government and their Dubai-based employer, CME Consulting. CME Consulting which is an engineering firm was working on the new headquarters for the Central Bank of Iraq. The project was hit by delays and increased costs due to the COVID pandemic and a...

The United States government has put forward an offer to the Russian authorities to secure the release of two wrongfully detained Americans in the country – Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner. Paul Whelan is a former US Marine and Brittney Griner is a WNBA superstar athlete. On this episode, we speak again to Paul’s sister, Elizabeth Whelan. Elizabeth talks to us about her recent call with President Biden, the US proposal to Russia to secure Paul and Brittney’s release, the Russian government askin...

US permanent resident, Jose Pereira from Texas was former acting President and CEO of CITGO Petroleum. In November 2017 shortly before Thanksgiving, Jose was arrested in Caracas while he was there for a business meeting with five of his other American colleagues. Collectively, they’re known as the CITGO 6. The US government has stated they are unlawfully detained and called for their immediate release. On this episode, we have the honour of speaking to Jose’s son, John Pereira. John talks to us ...

Three weeks ago on 27th April, Trevor Reed was freed in a prisoner swap deal between the United States and Russia. Trevor is an American citizen and former US Marine who was wrongfully imprisoned in Russia since 16 August 2019. On this episode, we’ll hear from Trevor’s father, Joey Reed on what it was like seeing Trevor being released, how they’re doing now, what’s next for the Reed family and what should President Biden do to bring the other Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad ...

Robert Pether and his colleague, Khalid Radwan were both detained in Baghdad on 7 April 2021 after they went to Iraq to resolve a business dispute between the Iraqi government and their Dubai-based employer, CME Consulting. CME Consulting which is an engineering firm was working on the new headquarters for the Central Bank of Iraq. The project was hit by delays and increased costs due to the COVID pandemic and a dispute arose whereby the Iraqi government demanded the return of $12 million USD pa...

One week ago on Wednesday 27th April, Trevor Reed – an innocent American citizen and former US Marine who had been wrongfully imprisoned in Russia for 985 days – was freed. Trevor was released in a prisoner swap deal between the United States and Russia. Trevor is now back home in the United States getting the medical attention he needs and surrounded by his loving family – his father, Joey – his mother, Paula – and his sister, Taylor. We have interviewed Trevor’s parents twice on Pod Hostage Di...

American citizen Tomeu Vadell from Lake Charles, Louisiana has been wrongfully imprisoned in Venezuela since November 2017. Tomeu works for US oil company, CITGO and in November 2017, Tomeu was arrested in Caracas while he was down there for a business meeting with 5 of his other colleagues. Collectively, they’re known as the CITGO 6. The US government has stated that they are unlawfully detained. In October 2019, the Vadell family submitted Tomeu’s case to the United Nations Working Group on Ar...