//podcastplus.net/feed/podcast~f3c2e687ac1e1b1e3c4eae6f4cb0f7de45875e1a50eddd9437f9d7784596c48f We work to free hostages and the unjustly detained worldwide. Together with their families, we share their stories and let you know how you can help. Host, Daren Nair has been campaigning with many of these families for years and will introduce you to some of the most courageous and resilient people among us, people who have never given up hope, people who will never stop working to reunite their families.  Fri, 10 Apr 2026 09:11:20 +0000 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/episodes/12770511-sitrep-pod-4-free-robert-pether-australian-held-in-iraq-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 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. The project was hit by delays and increased costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a dispute arose whereby the Iraqi government demanded the return of $12 million USD paid to CME Consulting. As a result of this dispute between the Iraqi government and CME Consulting, both Robert Pether and Khalid Radwan who work for the company were detained and put in prison. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has stated that their detention is arbitrary meaning they are wrongfully imprisoned and called for t... Wed, 03 May 2023 05:00:00 +0000 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/episodes/12770511-sitrep-pod-4-free-robert-pether-australian-held-in-iraq-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/12770511-sitrep-pod-4-free-robert-pether-australian-held-in-iraq-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 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. The project was hit by delays and increased costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a dispute arose whereby the Iraqi government demanded the return of $12 million USD paid to CME Consulting. As a result of this dispute between the Iraqi government and CME Consulting, both Robert Pether and Khalid Radwan who work for the company were detained and put in prison. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has stated that their detention is arbitrary meaning they are wrongfully imprisoned and called for t... Wed, 03 May 2023 05:00:00 +0000 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/12770511-sitrep-pod-4-free-robert-pether-australian-held-in-iraq-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/episodes/12770511-sitrep-pod-4-free-robert-pether-australian-held-in-iraq-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 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. The project was hit by delays and increased costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a dispute arose whereby the Iraqi government demanded the return of $12 million USD paid to CME Consulting. As a result of this dispute between the Iraqi government and CME Consulting, both Robert Pether and Khalid Radwan who work for the company were detained and put in prison. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has stated that their detention is arbitrary meaning they are wrongfully imprisoned and called for t... Wed, 03 May 2023 05:00:00 +0000 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/episodes/12770511-sitrep-pod-4-free-robert-pether-australian-held-in-iraq-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/episodes/12680258-free-paul-whelan-and-evan-gershkovich-americans-held-in-russia-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 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 Hostage-Taking Accountability Act as well as how the U.S. Secretary of State makes the decision to designate an American held abroad as “wrongfully detained”. We are joined on this episode by Paul Whelan’s sister, Elizabeth Whelan. Elizabeth has been campaigning to free her brother for over four years and we discuss what the Whelan family had to do when Paul was first detained including getting a privacy act waiver and power of attorney signed. We explain clearly that whether the U.S. gives up a conce... Wed, 19 Apr 2023 05:00:00 +0000 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/episodes/12680258-free-paul-whelan-and-evan-gershkovich-americans-held-in-russia-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/12680258-free-paul-whelan-and-evan-gershkovich-americans-held-in-russia-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 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 Hostage-Taking Accountability Act as well as how the U.S. Secretary of State makes the decision to designate an American held abroad as “wrongfully detained”. We are joined on this episode by Paul Whelan’s sister, Elizabeth Whelan. Elizabeth has been campaigning to free her brother for over four years and we discuss what the Whelan family had to do when Paul was first detained including getting a privacy act waiver and power of attorney signed. We explain clearly that whether the U.S. gives up a conce... Wed, 19 Apr 2023 05:00:00 +0000 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/12680258-free-paul-whelan-and-evan-gershkovich-americans-held-in-russia-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/episodes/12680258-free-paul-whelan-and-evan-gershkovich-americans-held-in-russia-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 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 Hostage-Taking Accountability Act as well as how the U.S. Secretary of State makes the decision to designate an American held abroad as “wrongfully detained”. We are joined on this episode by Paul Whelan’s sister, Elizabeth Whelan. Elizabeth has been campaigning to free her brother for over four years and we discuss what the Whelan family had to do when Paul was first detained including getting a privacy act waiver and power of attorney signed. We explain clearly that whether the U.S. gives up a conce... Wed, 19 Apr 2023 05:00:00 +0000 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/episodes/12680258-free-paul-whelan-and-evan-gershkovich-americans-held-in-russia-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/12525127-sitrep-pod-free-shahab-dalili-american-hostage-in-iran-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 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 may be left behind by the United States government if a prisoner exchange deal does go ahead. On this episode, we have the honour of speaking once again to Shahab’s son, Darian Dalili. We discuss the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage Taking Accountability Act which has been signed into U.S. law, the fire in Evin prison last year where Shahab is being held, the release of American citizen Baquer Namazi who was held hostage in Iran since 2016, the potential prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Iran... Wed, 29 Mar 2023 05:00:00 +0000 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/12525127-sitrep-pod-free-shahab-dalili-american-hostage-in-iran-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/episodes/12525127-sitrep-pod-free-shahab-dalili-american-hostage-in-iran-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 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 may be left behind by the United States government if a prisoner exchange deal does go ahead. On this episode, we have the honour of speaking once again to Shahab’s son, Darian Dalili. We discuss the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage Taking Accountability Act which has been signed into U.S. law, the fire in Evin prison last year where Shahab is being held, the release of American citizen Baquer Namazi who was held hostage in Iran since 2016, the potential prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Iran... Wed, 29 Mar 2023 05:00:00 +0000 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/episodes/12525127-sitrep-pod-free-shahab-dalili-american-hostage-in-iran-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/episodes/12525127-sitrep-pod-free-shahab-dalili-american-hostage-in-iran-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 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 may be left behind by the United States government if a prisoner exchange deal does go ahead. On this episode, we have the honour of speaking once again to Shahab’s son, Darian Dalili. We discuss the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage Taking Accountability Act which has been signed into U.S. law, the fire in Evin prison last year where Shahab is being held, the release of American citizen Baquer Namazi who was held hostage in Iran since 2016, the potential prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Iran... Wed, 29 Mar 2023 05:00:00 +0000 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/episodes/12525127-sitrep-pod-free-shahab-dalili-american-hostage-in-iran-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/12443618-free-cecile-kohler-french-hostage-in-iran-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3 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 aired on Iranian state media. The French government was outraged by this and strongly condemned it. On this episode, we have the honour of speaking to Cecile’s sister, Noemie Kohler. Noemie walks us through what happened to her sister, how they found out she was arrested and what they did next. Noemie tells us how heartbreaking it was for her and her family to see her sister being forced to confess to something she didn’t do. She also talks about how her sister is doing physically and mentally as Cecile has... Wed, 15 Mar 2023 06:00:00 +0000 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797800/12443618-free-cecile-kohler-french-hostage-in-iran-pod-hostage-diplomacy.mp3