"I will pray for Cecilia Sala and for myself." This is what Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi told his lawyer, Alfredo De Francesco, during the interview in prison in which the case of Cecilia Sala was also discussed.
The Iranian engineer, who reiterated his concern for his family, also asked for information on the case of the Italian journalist arrested in Tehran and detained in Evin prison. It is no secret that the two cases are closely linked and that Cecilia Sala has become a bargaining chip to obtain the release of Abedini, blocked in Malpensa last December 16 for an extradition request from the US and currently in prison in Milan.
A key date is January 15, the day on which the Milan Court of Appeal set the hearing to discuss the request for house arrest advanced by Abedini's defense. The request has a negative opinion from the Milan Attorney General's Office.
According to what was reported today , Abedini asked his lawyer to write Cecilia Sala's name on a blank sheet of paper, so that he could pray for her and, even if it was not explicitly stated, for her release . During the interview, the lawyer De Francesco explained the situation in detail to the mechanical engineer, starting from the negative and non-binding opinion of the Attorney General Francesca Nanni to the request for house arrest, up to the merits of the case for which the United States has requested extradition with charges that the 38-year-old does not recognize and rejects .
Since yesterday, discussions have been underway between the Italian government and the US authorities on the matter, according to informed sources. Discussions and exchanges of information after Tehran proposed the exchange of the two prisoners in recent days . And the Italian ambassador to Iran, Paola Amadei, was received today by the Foreign Ministry in Tehran.
Meanwhile, Cecilia Sala's parents are asking for a press blackout to avoid complicating the evolution of the story: "The stage we have reached - we read in the message - is very delicate and the feeling is that the great media debate on what can or should be done risks prolonging the times and making a solution more complicated and distant . For this reason we have decided to abstain from comments and statements and we appeal to the media asking for a press blackout. We will be grateful for the sense of responsibility that everyone will want to show in avoiding divulging sensitive and delicate news ."
(Unioneonline/L)
