View Full Version : Iran To Release Detained American Hikers
3 Americans = $1.5M...the Iranian economic stimulus package.
And so it goes...
Richard :munchin
Iran Will Reportedly Release 2 Jailed Americans
NYT, 13 Sep 2011
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has said two American hikers jailed for espionage in his country last month will be freed within “two days,” NBC reported on Tuesday, citing an exclusive interview with the Iranian leader.
The two, Shane M. Bauer and Joshua F. Fattal, both 29, were sentenced to eight years in jail last month on the charges, which they deny. The Americans have already spent two years in a Tehran prison after being arrested near the border with Iraqi Kurdistan in July 2009.
An attorney for the Americans was quoted by The Associated Press as saying they would be freed after the payment of $500,000 bail each.
A third hiker, Sarah E. Shourd, was released on $500,000 bail in September 2010, and returned to the United States.
(cont'd)
They have obviously found a way for national fund raising.
BrokenSwitch
09-13-2011, 08:10
I have half a mind to wonder whether their capture was an attempt to cause an international incident. Their biographies were fun to read: 3 UC-Berkeley grads living in Damascus, Syria. Their jobs? Journalists.
http://freethehikers.org/about-the-hikers/about-the-hikers-main/about-sarah-shourd/
http://freethehikers.org/about-the-hikers/about-the-hikers-main/about-shane-bauer/
http://freethehikers.org/about-the-hikers/about-the-hikers-main/about-josh-fattal/
Bauer, Shourd, and Fattal were graduates of the University of California at Berkeley and were well known in the antiwar movement in the Bay Area.
On moving to Syria in 2008, Shourd and Bauer chose to live in a Palestinian refugee camp and engage in Palestine solidarity work. When Israeli occupation forces shot their friend, Anderson, in the head during a nonviolent protest in the West Bank, they went to visit him in an Israeli hospital, just three weeks before their kidnapping.
SOURCE: http://www.zcommunications.org/iranian-detention-of-us-activist-journalist-nears-two-year-mark-by-stephen-zunes
I'm just wondering where those hug the world folks came up with $500,000 each?
Maybe some evil capitalist? Government maybe? Family? Must be nice.
Iraqgunz
09-13-2011, 16:13
I would also like to know who is footing the bill for the bail. Something tells me it is the American taxpayers.
greenberetTFS
09-13-2011, 16:30
I have half a mind to wonder whether their capture was an attempt to cause an international incident. Their biographies were fun to read: 3 UC-Berkeley grads living in Damascus, Syria. Their jobs? Journalists.
http://freethehikers.org/about-the-hikers/about-the-hikers-main/about-sarah-shourd/
http://freethehikers.org/about-the-hikers/about-the-hikers-main/about-shane-bauer/
http://freethehikers.org/about-the-hikers/about-the-hikers-main/about-josh-fattal/
SOURCE: http://www.zcommunications.org/iranian-detention-of-us-activist-journalist-nears-two-year-mark-by-stephen-zunes
I don't think so,their just stupid assholes!..........:rolleyes::eek::p
Big Teddy :munchin
Dozer523
09-13-2011, 21:59
I don't think so,their just stupid assholes!..........:rolleyes::eek::p
Big Teddy :munchinBig Teddy, I'm with you! They should be made to work it off picking up trash at Yosemite.
Maybe we'll get lucky and they cross a bear.
Big Teddy, I'm with you! They should be made to work it off picking up trash at Yosemite.
Maybe we'll get lucky and they cross a bear.
Not Yosemite, it's too purdy. ;) How about Death Valley.
Pat
Not so fast say the theocratic heads of Iran...
The Iranian judiciary on Wednesday contradicted an assurance by Iran‘s president that two Americans arrested two years ago while hiking the Iran-Iraq frontier and imprisoned on espionage charges would be freed within two days as a humanitarian gesture, state media reported.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad disclosed the plan on Tuesday in a move that seemed timed to portray him more favorably before he attends the United Nations General Assembly meeting next week. But the subsequent announcement by the judiciary could prove deeply embarrassing, showing the limits of his power and, given the swirling factional politics within the Iranian elite. highlighting frictions between Mr. Ahmadinejad and the conservatives who control the judiciary.
Specifically, the apparent conflict over the Americans’ legal status could reflect a worsening rift between Mr. Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the nation’s spiritual leader and highest authority, who is closely allied to the court.
On Wednesday, state media reported that, in the words of the English-language Press TV satellite broadcaster, “Iran’s judiciary has refuted recent media reports on the imminent release of two American nationals that were convicted of committing espionage against the Islamic Republic for the U.S. government.”
(cont'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/15/world/middleeast/irans-judiciary-clouds-fate-of-american-hikers.html?_r=1&ref=world
And so it goes...
Richard :munchin
"It ain't over til the fat lady sings...."
Stay safe.
I'm just wondering where those hug the world folks came up with $500,000 each?
Maybe some evil capitalist? Government maybe? Family? Must be nice.
I wonder how time in an Iranian prison will affect their "huggable" view of the world, and who they think the aggressor is now compared to when they started their "touchy-feely" middle eastern field trip... :munchin
Do you think Bill Clinton will fly to Iran to pick them up when they're released?
DevilSide
09-15-2011, 21:35
Since no one else asked, who goes hiking in Iran? :confused:
Hawaii, idk alaska one of those nature places, nah skip that, lets go to Iran ?
greenberetTFS
09-16-2011, 06:21
"It ain't over til the fat lady sings...."
Stay safe.
Guy,
That's close,but I think "It ain't over till it's over.....;) :D
Big Teddy :munchin
Guy,
That's close,but I think "It ain't over till it's over.....;) :D
Big Teddy :munchinI kinda gave up a looong time ago trying to figure out when we'd come home.
I stopped believing anything anyone said, UNTIL we stepped on U.S. soil! :lifter
Stay safe.
mark46th
09-16-2011, 08:22
A few things about this:
1. Clinton won't go pick them up, they aren't female.
2. I also wonder why one would go hiking in a war zone.
3. It goes to prove that common sense is not part of the curriculum at U.C. Berkeley.
4. The Term "College Educated Idiots" comes to mind.
Team Sergeant
09-16-2011, 09:25
A few things about this:
1. Clinton won't go pick them up, they aren't female.
2. I also wonder why one would go hiking in a war zone.
3. It goes to prove that common sense is not part of the curriculum at U.C. Berkeley.
4. The Term "College Educated Idiots" comes to mind.
Daniel Pearl attended Stanford University Jewish American journalist who was beheaded by the very islamic extremists he wanted to "interview".
Common Sense has not been common for over a half a century....
2 U.S. hikers convicted of spying leave Iran
Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal set free after more than 2 years in prison
CBC News Posted: Sep 21, 2011 7:06 AM ET Last Updated: Sep 21, 2011 12:56 PM
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/09/21/iran-jailed-hikers.html
Two U.S. hikers arrested in 2009 near the Iran-Iraq border and convicted of spying despite maintaining their innocence were released from prison Wednesday and have left Tehran after an Iranian court approved a $1-million freedom-for-bail deal.
Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal left Iran just as darkness fell in the capital, said IRNA, Iran's state news agency.
Masoud Shafiei, the lawyer representing Bauer and Fattal, said paperwork and other procedural requirements to free Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal from Tehran's Evin prison were completed earlier in the day.
The two were reportedly to be released as early as last week, but there were delays in finalizing the bail.
"The Judiciary of the Islamic Republic Iran has confirmed the release of two U.S. nationals, who had been convicted of illegal entry and espionage in Iran, on bail," Press TV said on its website.
"The case is over," Shafiei said. "The court has ordered that they be freed on bail."
CNN said the men left the prison in a car as part of a convoy heading to an airport to take the men to Oman, which dispatched a plane belonging to the Persian Gulf country's ruler. They were accompanied by officials from Oman and the Swiss Embassy, which represents American interests in Iran.
CNN reported the families of the two men had been in Oman for some time, waiting for their release.
An Omani official told The Associated Press the men were flying to the Omani capital of Muscat. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. He did not say how long the two men will stay in the Gulf state before heading home to the U.S., although CNN said they will likely undergo medical checkups in Oman first.
Border crossing a mistake, hikers say
During their court hearings, Bauer, Fattal and Bauer's fiancée, Sarah Shourd, said they were hiking in the mountains of northern Iraq and mistakenly crossed the unmarked border into Iran. Shourd was released on $500,000 bail in September.
In August 2010, the three were sentenced to eight years in prison each — three years for illegally entering the country and five years for spying.
U.S. President Barack Obama has repeatedly denied the three were tied to any U.S. intelligence efforts.
The lengthy detention of Bauer, Fattal and Shourd has added to tensions between Iran and the United States over issues such as Iran's disputed nuclear program.
Shafiei said the bail of $500,000 for each of the men was posted after some last-minute problems in the bank were resolved.
The lawyer told the semi-official Islamic Students News Agency that the government of Oman had paid the bail for Bauer and Fattel, according to the Washington Post. Oman also reportedly paid Shourd's bail.
'Unilateral pardon' angers Iran's judiciary
Omani officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, declined to comment on the proceedings for the Americans' release. They only said the private plane, sent from Muscat to the Iranian capital last Wednesday, was still in Tehran.
Last week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told U.S. journalists that Bauer and Fattal would receive a “unilateral pardon” and would be home “within days.”
But the following day, Iran’s judiciary, led by Shia Muslim clerics who once supported Ahmadinejad but now oppose him, said Ahmadinejad did not have the authority to free the two men.
On Sunday, the men’s release was delayed again because one of the judges whose signature is required on the bail paperwork was on vacation. Shafiei said he received the second signature Wednesday morning.
Shourd is now living in Oakland, Calif. Bauer, a freelance journalist, grew up in Onamia, Minn., and Fattal, an environmental activist, is from suburban Philadelphia.
They need to detain Obamanutjob or whatever Iran's head thug is named and hold him for two years.
The Berkeley grads refer to US civil rights violations instead of simply denouncing Iran’s actions in this instance.
All three had been released - they were on friendly soil by this time - I smell an anti-American activist, movie, or book or both in the works.
UK Telegraph
Monday 26 September 2011
12:58AM BST 26 Sep 2011
US hikers: Iran took us as 'hostages'
Two US hikers accused Iran Sunday of using them as "hostages" in its power struggle with the West and described hearing the anguished cries of fellow inmates being beaten in Tehran's Evin prison.
EXCERPTS:
After using the platform to urge Iran to free all "prisoners of conscience," he also criticised the US government, saying the pair's Iranian guards often defended their conditions by referencing Guantánamo Bay and CIA prisons.
"We do not believe that such human rights violations on the part of our government justify what has been done to us. Not for a moment," he said.
"However, we do believe that these actions on the part of the US provide an excuse for other governments, including the government of Iran, to act in kind."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/8788379/US-hikers-Iran-took-us-as-hostages.html
.......extortion money?
A middle eastern country? Some rich private dude? Brad Pitt? The US government?
You would think the press would be all over that one - but they're not. Hmmmmm.
I have wondered the same thing. It appears that Oman (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/22/us-iran-usa-release-idUSTRE78K1D620110922?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews) was at least involved, but I can't believe they "donated" out of the goodness of their heart.
Given the comment I heard this morning on my local radio news (which I can't confirm on the Internet) that one of the hitchhikers said the reason they were held was because of the atrocities America committed at Abu Ghraib, I wouldn't be surprised to find that Code Pink (http://www.codepink.org) had subsidized the "bail". :rolleyes:
Is it still too late to get our money back? Return to sender? Something along those lines?
Please notice the definite lack of PINK.
Tress
mojaveman
09-26-2011, 17:15
People who do stupid things sometimes luck out. Anyone want to guess what their story is going to be worth? Remember the old saying "screw up move up".