Speaking at a press conference in New York hours after landing back in U.S., the two U.S. nationals accused Iran of using them as “hostages” in its power struggle with the West and claimed hearing the anguished cries of fellow inmates being beaten in Tehran’s Evin prison.
Deputy Foreign Minister Hassan Qashqavi said the reasons that they were arrested were illegal entry and espionage and that it was not related to their nationality or the frozen ties between Tehran and Washington.
Shane Bauer, Joshua Fattal, and Sarah Shourd were arrested by border guards on July 31, 2009 after illegally entering Iran’s territory from Iraq’s Kurdistan region. The three were charged with illegal entry and espionage.
Shourd was released from prison on bail of $500,000 on September 14, 2010 and never returned to Iran.
On August 22, 2011, Bauer and Fattal were sentenced to three years in prison for illegal entry. They were also sentenced to five years in prison on charges of espionage for a U.S. intelligence agency. However, on Sept. 21, they were also released on bail of $500,000 each.
Qashqavi said as the three Americans’ lawyer had previously said “they have had all the rights of a prisoner and even beyond.”
Massoud Shafee, lawyer of the two U.S. citizens, denied the accusations raised by the two against Iran.
Shafee said Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal’s claims about mistreatment of prisoners in Iran’s prisons “are not true”.
Shafee blasted the U.S. nationals for their claims. “Why have they made such allegations when their problem has been resolved and they have left the country?” he asked.
Similar accusations were raised by Sarah Shourd last year after she was released.
“But Shourd later rejected the media reports about her remarks and said that her words have been misinterpreted,” Shafee explained.
AA/PA
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