3 Detained U.S. Hikers to Face Iran Trial

Iran's Foreign Minister said Monday that three American hikers detained for the past four and a half months will face trial in the Islamic republic on charges they were committing espionage.

The three Americans were arrested July 31 after straying over the Iranian border from northern Iraq. The U.S. government and their families say there were on a hiking vacation and crossed accidentally.

Mottaki said at a news conference Monday that the Americans had "suspicious aims."

Tehran chief prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi said last month that the three "have been accused of espionage" and that investigations were continuing, according to the state news agency IRNA. He said an "opinion (on their case) will be given in the not distant future."

In Iran's opaque judicial system, the process of indictment and trial often takes place behind closed doors.

When the accusation of espionage was leveled in November, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton repeated her call on Iran to release Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal.

Clinton said, "We believe strongly that there is no evidence to support any charge whatsoever.

"And we would renew our request on behalf of these three young people and their families that the Iranian government exercise compassion and release them, so they can return home."

The announcement of a pending trial comes as the U.S. and its allies increasingly suggest that Tehran will be subjected to tougher sanctions over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, and raises the possibility that the country's leaders are using the case to pressure the U.S. in the nuclear negotiations.

[alibam]

Maybe they are exactly who and what they say they are, and they need as much support as they can get. For those of you with a heart and a sense of how the world works.. please check out :

http://freethehikers.org

Thank you.

[alibam]

Maybe they are exactly who and what they say they are, and they need as much support as they can get. For those of you with a heart and a sense of how the world works.. please check out :

http://freethehikers.org

Thank you.

[gosstom]

Hopefully, if they ever are repartiated back to the US, one of the requirements should be Forced Sterilization. This way these stupid people would be unable to pollute the American Gene Pool with their infected genes.

[buddesatva]

No sympathy for the 'hikers'. No trade for nuke scientists either.

[starving1968-1]

by curiously1 December 14, 2009 12:03 PM EST
Make no mistake ! This is all an attempt by the government of Iran to unite their people by creating an atmosphere of western meddling in the Iranian affairs. Their credibility is under attack by their recent barbaric suppressing of the uprising in Iran. As another poster noted, the kids will be pardoned by ahmedinejat in a show of good intentions. All a circus !







Basically these three idiots have handed Ahmadinejhad a political bargaining chip.

That alone should be enough for our government to REFUSE to intervene.

[John_Merritt]

All you need do is look at the pictures of the three youngsters to see they have a defiance and arrogance in their demeanor. What they did is create an international incident that could have been avoided.

When they saw the Iran guards, all they had to do was turn around and head back into neutral territory, but they defied the Iranian's to do something about it. Don't know what their motive was, and don't know who might have put them up to their little exploits. I say let them stew for awhile and if the State Department wants to get involved, so be it.

This is not like the Amanda Knox case where she was outright railroaded and I believe we should negotiate for her release into American custody. If she is deserving of incarceration, than we can place her into one of our prisons. Since Italy is an ally, they should be amenable to our requests.

[curiously1]

Make no mistake ! This is all an attempt by the government of Iran to unite their people by creating an atmosphere of western meddling in the Iranian affairs. Their credibility is under attack by their recent barbaric suppressing of the uprising in Iran. As another poster noted, the kids will be pardoned by ahmedinejat in a show of good intentions. All a circus !

[averjane]

Why were Americans in Iran just hiking? I'm not saying they were up to espionage, I'm just saying they were stupid! I mean, there's no place else in the world to take a hike? Ridiculous! Even if you're not up to anything, who do you think you are that you can just trapse around the glode to find some place to hike? And of all places, Iran or anywhere near the Middle East. Are you nuts or that spoiled? Just because you can afford to go anywhere you want doesn't mean you should go anywhere you want. Use some common sense. These people aren't playing. Their laws are not like ours and they will make an example of an American especially. They'll be fortunate if they get rescued from their fate at the hands of these nuts.

[billpl-2009]

one might say, those people in the WTC on 9/11 were nuts too

...I mean, working in buildings with such a HUGE target on them?

now we all know there's quite a difference between the two, but...

the question remains

where do you draw the line?

and who has the power to draw it?

[jd2408]

I watched an interview with one of the relatives. She said that Shane and Sarah had moved to Syria quite some time ago because they preferred the culture there. I read another article that said they were Berkley graduates. I think that pretty much explains it all.

[Oregon_State_OSU]

Terrorist Hikers that's a NEW ONE for committing espionage.

What a PATHETIC attempt by IRAN to pin such a crime on Hikers thats disparation and fabrication by the IRAN govt. Simply Pathetic and Laughable !

[starving1968-1]

What were they doing on the Iranian border?

Whether innocent or guilty as charged, they should be jailed for PURE STUPIDITY!

[billpl-2009]

"...committing espionage..."

....really

by doing what

counting humps on camels?