ARLINGTON, Va. (7News) – Pictures of Zack Shahin are the only reminder his family has as a reminder of the last time he was a free man, which was almost 20 years ago.
Shahin has been imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates, or UAE, since 2008, and his sister-in-law, Aida Dagher, has been advocating for the U.S. government to take action and free him for almost two decades.
Dagher said Shahin, 60, may not have much more time.
“This is a death sentence, really,” Dagher said. “He’s very sick, physically and mentally. He’s been in the hospital last year for four months. He had several surgeries.”
Shahin had been working in Dubai at the time of the arrest.
Dagher said she vividly remembers how distraught she and her family were when they found out how Shahin was arrested and tried in court.
“They gave him an assignment in Dubai. He went there. He did very well. He was headhunted by a local real estate company. He became the CEO of that company, and he worked there for about four years,” Dagher said. “All of a sudden in 2008, he was in a business meeting. He was kidnapped. I would say kidnapped, not arrested, because nobody knew where he was. Even the U.S. Embassy did not know until about 17 days afterward. He was arrested, put in jail, tortured during those 17 days. It was unbelievable. There were no charges. To put it briefly, it took them nine-and-a-half years to have him in jail and convict him.”
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention wrote a report stating Shahin has been wrongfully imprisoned.
“During the meeting, armed members of the State security services entered, confiscated Mr. Shahin’s mobile phone, blindfolded him and apprehended him at gunpoint,” the report stated. “He was deprived, at times, of food, water, sleep and sanitation facilities. During the first three days of his detention, he was made to sit in an upright chair for more than 18 hours a day. He was allegedly forced to sign documents that were blank as well as documents in Arabic, a language that he did not read. During that period, he was reportedly also denied access to legal advice and consular facilities.”
Shahin was sentenced to 25 years in prison for white-collar crimes, including fraud.
The report went on to detail the issues with the trial process.
“Mr. Shahin’s initial arrest and the subsequent investigations and the convictions are likely to have been politically motivated,” the report stated. “The source notes that of the five trial processes to which Mr. Shahin was subjected, following his initial three acquittals, he was thereafter convicted and given extraordinarily lengthy sentences of imprisonment. The source notes that it is likely that the last two trial processes and subsequent convictions were neither free nor fair and that those convictions arose as a result of direct edicts issued within the purview of the Head of the Ruler’s Court.”
Human Rights Watch has also outlined the issues with Shahin’s arrest and conviction.
“He’s been there for almost 17 years and we don’t know the evidence,” Dagher said. “How long is he going to be there?”
Dagher lived in Arlington, Va., but now stays in Houston for large chunks of time to help Shahin’s family members through this tough time.
However, her stays in the D.C. area are much more often so she can plead with The White House and State Department to step up and help free Shahin.
“We want somebody to step up at a high level. Right now, we’re begging the president level: Secretary Blinken, President Biden, Vice President Harris, or ex-President Trump. No one else can get him out,” Dagher said. “I am confident if such a meeting happens, a phone call will bring him back.”
7News asked the State Department the following questions:
Nobody has responded, as of the time of publication.
In the meantime, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation has stepped up to help.
The organization helped advocate for the U.S. government on behalf of the families of the recent Russian prisoner exchange.
Foundation President Benjamin Gray said they have two major roles in these discussions.
“We act as a way to, hopefully, be a hub and refer families to, based on their specific needs, to the services that are available - whether those are services from the government, sister NGOs, or to get pro bono legal advice,” Gray said. “We’ve got a database of over 400 cases going back about 45 years. We really try to understand the trends and what is working, what is not working through qualitative interviews with families - their lived experiences - and really make some recommendations, policy-wise, for the government to improve its ability to bring more people home and more quickly.”
The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation has also highlighted Shahin’s predicament as a case of wrongful imprisonment.
In many cases, Gray told 7News, these wrongful imprisonments are politically motivated.
“There is a subset, an important subset, where their arrest is happening because they are being targeted by that government or because they’ve come into the system, the judicial system, they see them as an opportunity to engage with the U.S. in a way to apply leverage,” Gray said. “Different captor nations will want different things. The reason why actors take Americans who, whether they’re terrorist organizations or nation-states, by definition, they’re trying to do it because they’re trying to exert leverage over the U.S. They’re trying to get us to change our policy or to reverse something, or to stop doing something.”
However, Gray said it’s still unclear what the UAE wants in exchange for Shahin’s release.
“I don’t think it’s actually clear what they want or what, ultimately, would resolve this,” Gray said.
As the Foley Foundation continues its work, Dagher said she continues to help Shahin’s family.
“It’s really sad. The family of Zack Shahin are in jail with him,” Dagher said. “Have mercy on a dying U.S. citizen.”
[Collection]wjla.com