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Image posted, Reuters
Photos sent to Robert Levinson’s family showed him in an orange suit
A US judge issued a ruling requiring Tehran to pay $ 1.45 billion to the family of a former FBI agent who disappeared while visiting Iran in 2007.
The judge ruled the right of Robert Levinson’s wife and children to $ 1.35 billion in punitive damages paid by Iran, in addition to $ 107 million in compensation for the kidnapping.
There was no immediate response from the Iranian government, which has always denied having knowledge of his condition or whereabouts.
US authorities and the Levinson family believe he died in custody in an Iranian prison.
The family described Judge Timothy Kelly’s ruling as “the first step in the search for justice.”
According to a statement issued by the family, “Judge Kelly’s decision will not return Levinson to the house, but we hope it will serve as a warning against the kidnapping of other hostages by Iran.”
Image posted, FBI
Levinson was lost while on a tour of Kish Island in the Gulf region in March 2007.
The US government says Levinson was a private investigator on behalf of some of the big companies.
However, a US media report stated that he was carrying out an unauthorized mission for the CIA. He noted that while on the island of Kish, he met a fugitive American named Dawood Salah al-Din.
Salah al-Din says that Levinson told him that he was investigating the smuggling of cigarettes in the Gulf and that after their meeting they were detained by Iranian security forces.
In 2011, he sent photos of the Levinson family showing him in an orange jumpsuit. At the time, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she believed he was being held “somewhere in Southwest Asia.”
Levinson’s wife, Christine, told a US Senate committee in March 2019 that the Levinson case had apparently been “forgotten” by successive US administrations.
“The most credible evidence we have gathered over the past 13 years indicates the possibility that he died in custody,” FBI Director Christopher Ray told the Levinson family earlier this year. But he stressed that the FBI had not stopped trying to find out what had happened.
At the time, Iran repeated previous observations on this issue, saying that it was still trying to find out Levinson’s fate, “but found no sign that he was still alive.”
Judge Kelly’s ruling stated: “Iran’s behavior here is … unique in that, surprisingly, it kidnapped a former FBI and DEA agent, tortured him and kept him in custody for approximately 13 years, and is still refuses to date. Assume the responsibility “.
“His wife and children … had to go on with their lives without knowing their exact fate. These actions certainly deserve the severest condemnation,” he added.
