Iranian state prosecutor rejects reports that the case of the U.S. hikers had been politicized by Iran’s judicial system.
Iran’s state prosecutor on Saturday defended the sentences handed to two Americans who were convicted of illegal entry and espionage.
Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were each given eight-year jail terms – three years for entering Iran illegally and five years for spying.
They were arrested along with a third U.S. citizen, Sarah Shourd, in July 2009 when they crossed the unmarked border from Iraq’s Kurdistan region. The trio said they had been hiking in the area and denied the charges brought against them.
“The detained Americans had been charged (with espionage), their charges were thoroughly investigated and proven and eventually convicted by court,” Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejehi told Fars news agency.
The state prosecutor rejected reports that the case has been politicized by the judiciary, saying that the court has decided independently and without any political considerations.
“Remarks such as the two Americans were held here as hostages (for political reasons) are totally baseless as the judiciary in Iran is and acts totally independent,” Mohseni-Ejehi said.
The pair’s lawyer, Massoud Shafei, has already appealed the verdict.
Shourd was released in September on health grounds after posting 500,000 dollars in bail and returning to the United States.
Last week’s verdict came unexpectedly. Earlier this month, Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi expressed hope that the two men would be released.
Their lawyer had also predicted they would be released by August 30, at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and when the judiciary usually orders the release of prisoners jailed for minor crimes.
Both the judiciary and the government have repeatedly said it was hard to believe that U.S. citizens would spend their weekend hiking on the Iran-Iraq border.
But neither has so far presented any documents proving the espionage charges against the Americans.
