Iran arrests two German nationals
Source: Agencies |
October 16, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
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IRAN'S general prosecutor says two German nationals, who were arrested while reportedly trying to interview the son of a woman sentenced to death by stoning, have admitted breaking the law by entering the country without the proper visas, a local news agency reported yesterday.
The stoning sentence against the 43-year-old woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, has caused an international outcry.
The arrest of the two Germans - whom Tehran has accused of having links to Iranian exile groups - -indicates how sensitive Iran is over the case.
Iran's top state prosecutor, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehei, told the semi-official Fars news agency on Thursday that the Germans have admitted to working as reporters in the country without the required journalist visas.
"The two German nationals have confessed to their offense," Ejehei was quoted as saying. He said the Germans agreed that working without the proper visas violates Iranian law, which states that foreign reporters need a journalist's visa to work in Iran legally.
Ejehei said the pair entered the country on tourist visas and contacted Ashtiani's family in the northwestern city of Tabriz, posing as reporters "without (providing) any evidence" that they were indeed journalists.
The Germans' arrest could elevate tensions between Iran and the West, already running high over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
In Berlin, German Foreign Ministry spokesman Dirk Augustin said he couldn't confirm reports that the two had admitted to visa violations, because "we ourselves haven't yet been able to speak" with them.
He added that the Foreign Ministry and the Embassy in Tehran are "in constant contact with the Iranian authorities."
Earlier this week, the German Journalists' Association said that the two Germans are journalists - a reporter and a photographer - who were interviewing Ashtiani's son, -Sajjad Qaderzadeh, when they were arrested.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that a German-based Iranian anti-government group had arranged for the Germans to interview Ashtiani's family.
The woman at the center of the stoning case, Ashtiani, was first convicted in May 2006 of having an "illicit relationship" with two men after the death of her husband - for which a court in Tabriz sentenced her to 99 lashes.
Later that year she was also convicted of adultery, despite having retracted a confession, which she claims was made under duress. She was sentenced to death by stoning for the -adultery conviction.
After an international uproar over the sentence, Iran temporarily suspended the stoning verdict against Ashtiani. But Tehran says no decision has yet been made about her case.
The stoning sentence against the 43-year-old woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, has caused an international outcry.
The arrest of the two Germans - whom Tehran has accused of having links to Iranian exile groups - -indicates how sensitive Iran is over the case.
Iran's top state prosecutor, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehei, told the semi-official Fars news agency on Thursday that the Germans have admitted to working as reporters in the country without the required journalist visas.
"The two German nationals have confessed to their offense," Ejehei was quoted as saying. He said the Germans agreed that working without the proper visas violates Iranian law, which states that foreign reporters need a journalist's visa to work in Iran legally.
Ejehei said the pair entered the country on tourist visas and contacted Ashtiani's family in the northwestern city of Tabriz, posing as reporters "without (providing) any evidence" that they were indeed journalists.
The Germans' arrest could elevate tensions between Iran and the West, already running high over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
In Berlin, German Foreign Ministry spokesman Dirk Augustin said he couldn't confirm reports that the two had admitted to visa violations, because "we ourselves haven't yet been able to speak" with them.
He added that the Foreign Ministry and the Embassy in Tehran are "in constant contact with the Iranian authorities."
Earlier this week, the German Journalists' Association said that the two Germans are journalists - a reporter and a photographer - who were interviewing Ashtiani's son, -Sajjad Qaderzadeh, when they were arrested.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that a German-based Iranian anti-government group had arranged for the Germans to interview Ashtiani's family.
The woman at the center of the stoning case, Ashtiani, was first convicted in May 2006 of having an "illicit relationship" with two men after the death of her husband - for which a court in Tabriz sentenced her to 99 lashes.
Later that year she was also convicted of adultery, despite having retracted a confession, which she claims was made under duress. She was sentenced to death by stoning for the -adultery conviction.
After an international uproar over the sentence, Iran temporarily suspended the stoning verdict against Ashtiani. But Tehran says no decision has yet been made about her case.
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