US hikers go on trial in Iran for spying
Source: Agencies |
February 7, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AN Iranian court began closed-door proceedings yesterday in the espionage trial of three Americans - two still in custody and one freed on bail.
The case highlights the power of Iran's judiciary, which is controlled directly by the nation's ruling clerics and has rejected apparent efforts by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to urge for some leniency.
But Ahmadinejad has also tried to draw attention to Iranians in American jails, raising the possibility the detainees were viewed as potential bargaining chips with Washington at a time of high-stakes showdowns over Iran's nuclear program.
The Americans were detained in July 2009 along the Iraqi border. They claim they were hiking in Iraq's Kurdistan region and, if they crossed into Iran, it was inadvertent.
Iran, however, pressed forward with spy charges that could bring a -maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if they are convicted.
In September, Iran released Sarah Shourd on US$500,000 bail - arranged through Oman, which has close ties to the West and Iran.
The two others involved in the case - Shourd's fiance Shane Bauer and their friend, Josh Fattal - remain in Tehran's Evin prison.
It was not clear whether the two men were in the Revolutionary Court, which deals with state security issues such as those arrested in the violent aftermath of Iran's -disputed elections in 2009. Last week, Iran -officially demanded that Shourd -return for the trial, but she has stayed in the US.
Shourd and Bauer had been living together in Damascus, Syria, where Bauer was working as a freelance journalist and Shourd as an English teacher. Fattal, an environmental -activist, went to visit them in July 2009, shortly before they made their trip to northern Iraq.
The families of the detainees have made high-profile appeals for their release, including a visit by the three mothers to Tehran in May. The trip included a meeting between the mothers and relatives of five Iranians held for more than two years by the US military in Iraq.
The case highlights the power of Iran's judiciary, which is controlled directly by the nation's ruling clerics and has rejected apparent efforts by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to urge for some leniency.
But Ahmadinejad has also tried to draw attention to Iranians in American jails, raising the possibility the detainees were viewed as potential bargaining chips with Washington at a time of high-stakes showdowns over Iran's nuclear program.
The Americans were detained in July 2009 along the Iraqi border. They claim they were hiking in Iraq's Kurdistan region and, if they crossed into Iran, it was inadvertent.
Iran, however, pressed forward with spy charges that could bring a -maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if they are convicted.
In September, Iran released Sarah Shourd on US$500,000 bail - arranged through Oman, which has close ties to the West and Iran.
The two others involved in the case - Shourd's fiance Shane Bauer and their friend, Josh Fattal - remain in Tehran's Evin prison.
It was not clear whether the two men were in the Revolutionary Court, which deals with state security issues such as those arrested in the violent aftermath of Iran's -disputed elections in 2009. Last week, Iran -officially demanded that Shourd -return for the trial, but she has stayed in the US.
Shourd and Bauer had been living together in Damascus, Syria, where Bauer was working as a freelance journalist and Shourd as an English teacher. Fattal, an environmental -activist, went to visit them in July 2009, shortly before they made their trip to northern Iraq.
The families of the detainees have made high-profile appeals for their release, including a visit by the three mothers to Tehran in May. The trip included a meeting between the mothers and relatives of five Iranians held for more than two years by the US military in Iraq.
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