Nizar Zakka and Avital Grinberg

Nizar Zakka is the Founder and President of Hostage Aid Worldwide, advocating for the release of political hostages both in Iran and worldwide. In September 2015, Nizar travelled to Tehran to participate in a conference on Women Empowerment. On his way back to the airport he was kidnapped by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps on trumped up espionage charges. He was released almost 4 years later, on June 11, 2019. Avital Grinberg is the General Manager of EU Watch, an NGO promoting accountability and transparency within the EU institutions and monitoring the EU's activities in foreign affairs and human rights. Grinberg, born in Berlin currently lives in Brussels.