Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he intends to release two Americans who have been jailed on charges of espionage for two years and grant them a “unilateral pardon.”
“I am helping to arrange for their release in a couple of days so they will be able to return home,” Ahmadinejad told The Washington Post in an hour-long interview Tuesday September 12, 2011 at his office in Tehran, Iran's capital city. “This is of course going to be a unilateral humanitarian gesture.”
The Americans, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 29, were arrested along with another American while they were hiking along the Iran-Iraq border two years ago. In August, they were sentenced to eight years in prison.
The other American, Sarah Shourd, was released in September 2010 after posting $500,000 bail.
Asked if Bauer and Fattal would definitely be released this week, Ahmadinejad said: “I hope so. I hope I will do that.”
The president’s decisions are subject to review by clerical authorities in the Islamic Republic.
Masoud Shafii, a lawyer representing the hikers, said he had been told by court officials that each of them would have to pay $500,000 in bail, as Shourd had to do.
“Basically if they don’t pay their bail, they won’t be freed,” Shafii said. “I don’t know who arranged this, the court or the president. The judiciary has said that everything is being done according to their procedures.”
Ahmadinejad said Bauer and Fattal will be “free to choose” how they return to the United States.
“It is a unilateral pardon,” of the hikers, he said.
nov 10 2009
Bauer, Fattal and Shourd were hiking in the mountains of Iraq’s northern Kurdish region on July 31, 2009, when, according to their families, they strayed across the border accidentally. Authorities in Tehran confirmed three days later that the three had been arrested, and an Iranian Arabic-language television network quoted police sources as saying they were “CIA agents.”
Bauer and Shourd were freelance journalists who were living together in Damascus, Syria, where Shourd also taught English and was studying Arabic, friends and relatives said. Fattal is a friend of Bauer’s who was visiting the Middle East to explore his father’s roots in Iraq. All three graduated from the University of California at Berkeley.
Bauer, an Arabic speaker from Minnesota who graduated from Berkeley in 2007 with a degree in Arabic and peace and conflict studies, was a Middle East correspondent for New American Media and has written for publications including the Nation magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times and Slate.com. Shourd has written for Brave New Traveler, an online travel magazine. At the time of her arrest, she had identified herself on the magazine’s Web site as a “teacher-activist-writer from California currently based in the Middle East.”
Iran’s foreign minister said in December 2009 that the three would be put on trial. The announcement came shortly after Iran demanded the release of 11 Iranians who it claimed were being held by the United States — a possible signal that Tehran sought to use the Americans as bargaining chips.
Iran accused the United States of kidnapping a nuclear scientist, a top military official and a businessman while they were traveling abroad.
Iranian officials were particularly upset about the case of Amir Hossein Ardebili, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to plotting to ship U.S. military technology to Iran, including advanced missile guidance and fighter plane components.
In May 2010, the mothers of the three Americans were allowed to meet with their children in Tehran for the first time since they were arrested. The hikers had complained to diplomats about isolation and depression while being held in Evin prison.
But Iran’s intelligence minister, Heidar Moslehi, reiterated his accusations during the visit that the three were on an espionage mission. And he repeated demands for the release of Iranians allegedly abducted by the United States.
Correspondent Thomas Erdbrink in Tehran and staff writer William Branigin in Washington contributed to this report.
Asked if Bauer and Fattal would definitely be released this week, Ahmadinejad said: “I hope so. I hope I will do that.”
The president’s decisions are subject to review by clerical authorities in the Islamic Republic.
Masoud Shafii, a lawyer representing the hikers, said he had been told by court officials that each of them would have to pay $500,000 in bail, as Shourd had to do.
“Basically if they don’t pay their bail, they won’t be freed,” Shafii said. “I don’t know who arranged this, the court or the president. The judiciary has said that everything is being done according to their procedures.”
Ahmadinejad said Bauer and Fattal will be “free to choose” how they return to the United States.
“It is a unilateral pardon,” of the hikers, he said.
nov 10 2009
Bauer, Fattal and Shourd were hiking in the mountains of Iraq’s northern Kurdish region on July 31, 2009, when, according to their families, they strayed across the border accidentally. Authorities in Tehran confirmed three days later that the three had been arrested, and an Iranian Arabic-language television network quoted police sources as saying they were “CIA agents.”
Bauer and Shourd were freelance journalists who were living together in Damascus, Syria, where Shourd also taught English and was studying Arabic, friends and relatives said. Fattal is a friend of Bauer’s who was visiting the Middle East to explore his father’s roots in Iraq. All three graduated from the University of California at Berkeley.
Bauer, an Arabic speaker from Minnesota who graduated from Berkeley in 2007 with a degree in Arabic and peace and conflict studies, was a Middle East correspondent for New American Media and has written for publications including the Nation magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times and Slate.com. Shourd has written for Brave New Traveler, an online travel magazine. At the time of her arrest, she had identified herself on the magazine’s Web site as a “teacher-activist-writer from California currently based in the Middle East.”
Iran’s foreign minister said in December 2009 that the three would be put on trial. The announcement came shortly after Iran demanded the release of 11 Iranians who it claimed were being held by the United States — a possible signal that Tehran sought to use the Americans as bargaining chips.
Iran accused the United States of kidnapping a nuclear scientist, a top military official and a businessman while they were traveling abroad.
Iranian officials were particularly upset about the case of Amir Hossein Ardebili, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to plotting to ship U.S. military technology to Iran, including advanced missile guidance and fighter plane components.
In May 2010, the mothers of the three Americans were allowed to meet with their children in Tehran for the first time since they were arrested. The hikers had complained to diplomats about isolation and depression while being held in Evin prison.
But Iran’s intelligence minister, Heidar Moslehi, reiterated his accusations during the visit that the three were on an espionage mission. And he repeated demands for the release of Iranians allegedly abducted by the United States.
Correspondent Thomas Erdbrink in Tehran and staff writer William Branigin in Washington contributed to this report.
1 comment:
Yes THIS happened on September 21 -- Mid-afternoon
12:20 p.m. ET: The BBC reports that "the two men, both 29, left the prison compound just minutes after their Iranian attorney, Masoud Shafiei, said he had finished the paperwork for their release, obtaining the signatures of two judges on a bail-for-freedom deal. He told AFP news agency the bail funds had been provided by the state of Oman, a U.S. Gulf ally which has good relations with Iran
(source = www.npr.org/ )
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