Iran To Release Detained American Hikers

[mark46th]

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]

Originally Posted by mark46th

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....

[tonyz]

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/2...ed-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.

[Dusty]

They need to detain Obamanutjob or whatever Iran's head thug is named and hold him for two years.

[tonyz]

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/worl...-hostages.html

[Pete]

.......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.

[Cynic]

I have wondered the same thing. It appears that Oman 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 had subsidized the "bail".

[Tress]

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]

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".