Iran's prosecutor defends sentences handed to U.S. hikers
Haaretz / DPA
27-Aug-2011 (2 comments)

Iran's state prosecutor on Saturday defended the sentences handed to two Americans who were convicted of illegal entry and espionage.

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were each given eight-year jail terms - three years for entering Iran illegally and five years for spying.

They were arrested along with a third U.S. citizen, Sarah Shourd, in July 2009 when they crossed the unmarked border from Iraq's Kurdistan region. The trio said they had been hiking in the area and denied the charges brought against them.

 

"The detained Americans had been charged (with espionage), their charges were thoroughly investigated and proven and eventually convicted by court," Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejehi told Fars news agency.

The state prosecutor rejected reports that the case has been politicized by the judiciary, saying that the court has decided independently and without any political considerations.

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BoosBoos

+1 to BaronAvak / Reasonable to Find Guilt

by BoosBoos on Sat Aug 27, 2011 11:12 PM PDT


CIRCUMSTANTIAL FACTS & EVIDENCE:

* Who in their right mind, would ever take a chance to go into hostile territory for a hike?

* From among that population of *hikers* in California, what are the chances that 2 people, at least one of the Jewish faith, would want to go in the precise location where sectarian military violence is taking place between several competing Muslim factions?

* (Note: Think about how bizarre it would be for an American to get caught hiking on the German border during World War 2 or vice versa.)

* Add that the countries that the *hikers* originate from are actively funding and promoting terror groups on the same border (U.S. & Israeli politicians routinely and publicly support MEK and PJAK).

* Add that the countries the *hikers* are linked to (the U.S. and Israel) are beating the war drums against Iran, threatening to bomb Iran to the stone age almost on a daily basis while they both maintain a military presence near that border.  (Even the person that posted this story does that.)

* Add that the country the *hikers* originate from just invaded 2 of the neighboring countries (Iraq and Afghanistan).

* Add that one of the alleged co-participants (Sara Shourd) jumped bail and that fleeing is often admitted as evidence of consciousness of guilt in criminal trials (this is standard U.S. law).

* Add that the U.S. has a history of sending operatives into Iran to manipulate the political landscape (Have you forgotten about Mosadegh? ... I promise the Judge didn't.)

 

       If you don't see how authorities can form a reasonable suspicion to arrest and charge the *hikers*, you're only kidding yourself. By automatically making it a *human rights* violation you're also cheapening genuine human rights violations; and endangering others.  A judge may very well have found -- based on the CIRCUMSTANTIAL evidence -- that these 2 were involved in some form of intelligence gathering, meeting a contact at the border, delivering cash to operatives already in iran, or a number of acts that most other governments would object to under these same circumstances.  Sources-and-Methods in espionage cases remain confidential; they are never properly the subject of a Iranian.com vote.  (If you don't know what CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE is, I suggest you look it up.)


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BaronAvak

Only 8 years?  Seems like

by BaronAvak on Sat Aug 27, 2011 11:14 PM PDT

Only 8 years?  Seems like the got a light sentence.  Hey, at least they got a trial, with charges filed against them, were not tortured, and their detention has a defininte end period, which is more than you can say for the "enemy combatants" held by the U.S. in violation of U.S. law and international conventions.


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