The two American hikers detained for nearly two years in Iran on charges of espionage and trespassing have allegedly experienced physical abuse at the hands of prison guards and their former companion is worried they remain victims of mistreatment.
Sarah Shourd, who was arrested along with Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer after the trio crossed into Iran from Iraq during a July 2009 hiking trip, told “The Early Show” Wednesday that “fear for their safety has reached an all-time high” as their families continue to wait for some sort of legal resolution.
Shourd, who is engaged to Bauer, was released after 13 months in captivity on $500,000 bail but has no plans to return to face trial. The trio has maintained that they crossed into Iran unknowingly while they were hiking in the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq.
While she was still in prison, Shourd said “a guard just went crazy” as they were walking back to their cells.
“They pushed Josh down the stairs, and Shane back into his cell and me back into my cell. And then a guard came into Shane’s cell and just started slamming him against the wall. … The back of his head was bloody,” she said.
“Prison is a very scary place. And you don’t know what’s going to happen on a day-to-day basis. And now that I’m on the outside, I constantly worry that that or something … >>>
