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US violated own basic laws by detaining Press TV anchor: Pundit

Monday, 21 January 2019 10:29 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 21 January 2019 11:14 AM ]

Iranians hold banners bearing messages that call for the release of US-born journalist Marzieh Hashemi, near the Swiss embassy in the capital, Tehran, on January 20, 2019. (Photo by AFP)

A former American diplomat says the detention of Press TV’s anchor, Marzieh Hashemi, constitutes a clear violation of even “the most basic laws” of the United States.

Michael Springmann, author and former US diplomat, told Press TV on Monday that the Bill of Rights – the first ten amendments to the US Constitution – says the country’s police and judicial systems are only allowed to make arrests based on facts, and that the detentions should be public.

“They (American officials) are violating their own laws and violating the most basic laws of the United States and the Federal Constitution and the Bill of Rights; so, these people are just acting like a federal dictatorship of the very first kind,” Springmann argued.

‘NGOs must take action’

In another interview with Press TV, Richard Silverstein, political commentator, called on rights activists and NGOs inside the US to exert pressure on authorities to help secure the release of Press TV’s anchor.

“What we need to do is we need to rally a coalition of human rights groups and NGOs in the United States, legal rights groups, the Senate for Constitutional Rights, the ACLU (the American Civil Liberties Union), they should be clamoring all [for] this case,” Silverstein noted.