Jewish Hikers—Convicted Iranian Spies—Update

The two men both Jewish have been convicted by Iran for spying.  Don’t bother commenting that they are Christians who celebrate Christmas.  They are ethnic Jews end of story. That’s always the context I use the term, never solely as a religious group.  These hikers really strike me as Zionists but that we may never know. 

The Jewish woman hiker Sarah was set free for health reasons with a large bail paid first.  But the two men not so lucky: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/07/30/sarah-shourd-and-others-hope-iran-will-set-the-hikers-free.html

Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer were taken into custody while vacationing in Iraq two summers ago, after they got lost in the mountains and wandered into Iran. A third hiker, Sarah Shourd, was released last year on $500,000 bail. Even before the verdict was announced, the families of the hikers told Newsweek they would appeal a decision that didn’t bring their sons home immediately.

“To our many supporters: we THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for your messages of support!” the family wrote on their Twitter account, upon announcement of the verdict. “What we need now more than ever is your support in getting Shane & Josh released. Peaceful communication is MOST supportive to us during this intensely challenging time, especially as it honors the values that Sarah, Shane and Josh hold so dear.”

The men have now served 750 days in prison, compared to the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1979 which lasted 444 days.

An Iranian court is scheduled to issue a verdict within a week in the case of two American hikers detained in Iran, the hikers’ lawyer Sunday.

Attorney Masoud Shafiei said Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer are innocent of charges that they illegally entered Iran as spies. The lawyer reiterated at a hearing Sunday that the Americans have maintained their innocence throughout months of imprisonment.

If the court reaches a guilty verdict, Shafiei said the time the two have spent in Iranian custody is enough.

“I believe that even if the court finds my clients guilty, the two years that they have already served in prison would be considered as their sentence and they would be released,” he said. Sunday’s hearing occurred two years to the date of their arrest while hiking near the country’s border with Iraq.

Fattal and Bauer could be freed within a week of a court order, according to the lawyer. http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/31/american-hikers-in-iran-could-be-set-free-in-a-week-lawyer-says/

Related articles

• U.S. hikers scheduled to appear in court in Iran (cnn.com)
• U.S. Hikers Held In Iran Could Be Released (huffingtonpost.com)
• Iran jails American hikers Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal for eight years (guardian.co.uk)
• U.S. hikers in Iran get 8 years in prison (wcma2.wordpress.com)