Michigan lawmaker helps bring Flint ex-Marine home

Michigan lawmaker helps bring Flint ex-Marine home

U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee hopped on a flight from Detroit Metro Airport to Frankfort, Germany, on Sunday to complete a campaign to free Amir Hekmati, a former Marine from Flint who has been held in an Iranian prison for the last four and a half years. "This has been a really emotional time. There have been a few instances over the years where we thought he was coming home," Kildee told reporters gathered in his Flint office Sunday morning. "When we got the call that Amir was with Swiss ambassador, it was a real relief." Since Kildee, a Democrat, was first elected to Congress, he has launched a Free Amir campaign, engaged in quiet negotiations with the Swiss and Iranian governments, worked with former Secretary of State Madeline Albright and become an honorary member of the Hekmati family. He traveled to Germany with Hekmati's sister Sarah and her husband, Ramy Kurdi. Another sister — Hekmati's twin, Leila — is traveling to Germany separately. "I've never spoken to Amir, but I feel I know him," Kildee said. "I feel a part of their family now. This is an incredible family that has stood with such grace. I kept thinking what would I want my member of Congress to do if my son was sitting in one of the worst prisons in the world." He read a statement from the Hekmati family, that said: "Today, our brother and son is being released. It's hard to put into words what our family feels right now. Amir's father is very ill, but soon he'll be able to embrace his son once more." Kildee said he was traveling back to Flint from the Detroit auto show when he got the news that Hekmati was finally free, "And no, I didn't drive off the road," he said. While Kildee launched a very public campaign, he said he also embarked on a very private effort to try and get Hekmati freed through diplomatic channels. He met several times with Julio Haus, the Swiss ambassador to Iran, and when he was supposed to be in New York to hear Pope Francis speak, he also was meeting with the Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. "This is a victory for diplomacy. We know it's going to take many steps to bring Iran back to the global community," Kildee said. "This nuclear agreement was a very real step. But the release of these prisoners is a real step for them to join global community." Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine visiting relatives in Iran, was captured by Iranian officials, accused of being a spy and initially sentenced to death, although that was later changed to a sentence of 10 years in prison. As part of the deal to release Hekmati and four other American citizens, the U.S. agreed to release seven Iranian Americans in U.S. prisons. As for critics of the swap, including several Republican presidential candidates, Kildee said, "I'd like to hear them say that to Amir Hekmati and his family. "The responsibility of the government sometimes means you're negotiating with people you have differences with," he said. "Diplomacy is a matter of give and take, and when you actually hold public office and have to take votes, you begin to take that approach."

He said the family knows Hekmati has lost a considerable amount of weight and had some health issues while in prison. "I think it's fair to say he was tortured physically and emotionally. There was a moment in time when he was told his mother had been killed in a car accident. He was treated very poorly," Kildee said. As for the moment he meets Hekmati sometime on Monday, Kildee said, it will be an incredibly emotional and gratifying introduction. "I'll say, welcome home, because home is where the family is," Kildee said.