For two years, Americans Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, have been held in Iran waiting a trial after they were abducted by Iranian troops on the Iraq/Iran border - well, their "trial" is over and the sentencing as come down. These two young Americans have been convicted as spies and were sentenced to eight years in prison for their "crime."
From the report at The Jerusalem Post:
Two Americans held in Iran for more than two years have been convicted as spies and sentenced to eight years in jail, Iranian TV reported on Saturday, a verdict that will further strain already very poor relations with Washington.
Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were arrested on July 31, 2009 near Iran's border with Iraq, along with a third American, Sarah Shourd, who was freed on $500,000 bail in September 2010 and returned home.
"In connection with illegal entry into Iranian territory each was given three years in jail and in connection with the charge of cooperating with American intelligence service, each was given five years in jail," a state TV website said, quoting what it called an informed judiciary source.
They have 20 days to appeal, it said.
The affair has compounded tensions between Tehran and Washington, which have had no diplomatic relations since the storming of the US embassy after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
There was no immediate comment from US officials.
Obviously, these two young men are not spies. But the Iranians just couldn't resist a chance to stick to the Great Satan just one more time. Hillary Clinton shot her wad over a year ago trying to attain the release of these young Americans and now, it certainly looks hopeless.
So let me ask this question...would Barack Hussein Obama define this moment as the Iranians NOT extending an "open hand" towards the West? In fact, where are those famous negotiations that Barack Hussein Obama promised would go on with Iran? Did the Annointed One find out that just possibly George W. Bush was RIGHT about Iran?
You would think that since Barack Hussein Obama purposely kept his nose out of the Iranian uprising by the people there, that he could cash in that favor to get these two young men released. I guess at this point, Obama is probably working on a deal to release some murdering terrorists from Israeli jails in exchange for these two Americans.
Iran jails US 'hikers' as spies for 8 years
TEHRAN - Two Americans held in Iran for more than two years have been convicted as spies and sentenced to eight years in jail, Iranian TV reported on Saturday, a verdict that will further strain already very poor relations with Washington.
Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were arrested on July 31, 2009 near Iran's border with Iraq, along with a third American, Sarah Shourd, who was freed on $500,000 bail in September 2010 and returned home.
The trio, in their late 20s and early 30s, say they were hiking in the mountains of northern Iraq and, if they crossed the unmarked border into Iran, it was by mistake.
"In connection with illegal entry into Iranian territory each was given three years in jail and in connection with the charge of cooperating with American intelligence service, each was given five years in jail," a state TV website said, quoting what it called an informed judiciary source.
They have 20 days to appeal, it said.
The affair has compounded tensions between Tehran and Washington, which have had no diplomatic relations since the storming of the US embassy after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
There was no immediate comment from US officials.
The verdict was announced as Russia launches a fresh attempt to find a diplomatic solution to a standoff over Tehran's nuclear program, which Washington says is aimed at making nuclear bombs, something Iran denies.
The boxer Muhammad Ali and pop singer Yusuf Islam, both Western converts to Islam, are among those who have called for the Americans' release.
US President Barack Obama has denied that the Americans, who were working in the Middle East when they decided to hike in the scenic mountains of Iraq, had any link to US intelligence.
Bauer and Fattal, who share a cell in Tehran's notorious Evin jail, pleaded not guilty at a closed-door court hearing on Feb. 6 and had been awaiting a verdict following another trial hearing on July 31.
Their lawyer, Masoud Shafiee, told Reuters he had not been informed of the verdict and declined to say whether he would appeal, pending official confirmation. "I don't know if this report is true or not, but this is not a light sentence," he said.
In Iran, espionage can carry the death penalty but Shafiee had hoped that at worst his clients would be convicted of illegal entry and might then be freed due to the two years they have already served.
Media had speculated that the pair could be freed as a goodwill gesture during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which began on Aug. 1. Hopes for their release were raised on Aug. 6 when Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said he hoped the trial would "advance in a way that would lead to their freedom".
But Prosecutor General Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, giving no hint of clemency, told reporters on Monday he had not heard of "rumors" that the men would be released during Ramadan.
It remains possible that Muslim clemency could be granted, as is traditional, at the end of the fasting month, which will be towards the end of next week.
1 comment:
They should thank G-d that the Mullahs didn't decide to separate their heads from their shoulders.
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