After more than two years of detention in Iranian prison, two UC Berkeley alumni were sentenced to eight years in prison Saturday, though supporters from throughout the world have stepped forward to declare their innocence and remain hopeful that they will be released.
Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were convicted Saturday of espionage and illegal entry into Iran after being seized in 2009 for crossing into the country while hiking along the Iran-Iraq border with Bauer’s fiance Sarah Shourd.
The two men each received five years imprisonment for espionage and three additional years for entering the country illegally. They have 20 days to file an appeal.
Throughout their detainment, supporters from around the world — including Noam Chomsky, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon — have expressed their support for the hikers and have now also expressed strong disappointment in their sentencing.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement that it is “time for them to be reunited with their families” and that the government will continue to work for their release.
“I join President Obama and the people of the United States in expressing our unflagging support for Shane, Joshua, Sarah and their families during this difficult time,” she said in the statement.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has also said he hopes the case will proceed in a manner that will result in Bauer and Fattal’s release, according to a statement from the families of the two hikers.
“We appeal to the authorities in Iran to show compassion and allow them to return home to our families without delay,” the statement reads.
The hikers’ sentencing puts another strain on the relationship between the United States and Iran, which over the years have been at odds over Iran’s alleged funding of terrorist groups and its pursuit of a nuclear program. The two countries do not maintain diplomatic relations.
Bauer, Fattal and Shourd were hiking in the Kurdistan province of Iraq — an area frequented by tourists — when an Iranian soldier saw them and gestured for them to step off of their hiking trail. He then pointed to the trail and said “Iraq” and pointed to the spot where they now stood and said “Iran,” indicating that they had unknowingly crossed the border.
“Of the 751 days of Shane and Josh’s imprisonment, yesterday and today have been the most difficult for our families,” the families’ statement reads. “Shane and Josh are innocent and have never posed any threat to the Islamic Republic of Iran, its government or its people.”
Bauer and Fattal were not formally charged until Shourd’s release in September 2010 and have appeared in court only one other time, on Feb. 6. Their last contact with their families was on May 22 — one of three phone calls they have been allowed to make.
The two men stood trial in Iran’s Revolutionary Court July 31 after their hearing was delayed in May without explanation from Iranian authorities.
Family and friends of the two, as well as students and members of the Berkeley community, have continually advocated for their release and maintained that all three hikers are innocent.
“Shane and Josh are part of the Cal family, and I strongly feel that it is my responsibility to urge students to let the powers that be know that Shane and Josh belong at home with their families,” said ASUC External Affairs Vice President Joey Freeman.
Allie Bidwell is the news editor.
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It’s a small masterpiece of irony that these young men, strong supporters of Palestinian Islamofascism and demonizers of Israel, should wind up incarcerated by a Muslim theocracy. I wonder what they think about Islamic fundamentalism now, be it Palestinian or Persian…
So let me get this straight.
Iran is an Islamic state ruled by Sharia law, and Islam is a compassionate and tolerant religion.
Right?
Right?
Hmmm…
Might be worthwhile asking these hikers about the tolerance and compassion assuming they ever get out of there alive.
I have yet to see the evidence Iran has against Fattal, Bauer, and Shourd. I believe Bauer was a free-lance journalist and contributor to Democracy Now. Perhaps he had videos
from Iran’s side of the border. That evidence still would not suffice as proof that he or the
others were spies. If anyone knows how we can learn the evidence, please let me and others know.
that’s because there is no evidence
We will keep the light on and the hikers and their families in our prayers, just we will keep those mean spirited commentators in our prayers. Two wrongs don’t make a right
The hikers got what they deserved, and got what anyone, including they, knew would happen. The hikers made their own choice; they were not forced. They are now paying the well-labeled price for their actions (no hidden fees here).
No one believes the “oh, we were just out for a walk in the park” excuse. The hikers went there deliberately and their feigned innocence is lame (‘lame hiker’ pun intended).
Does this one incident absolve the Iranian government of decades of atrocities? Certainly and absolutely not. Not sympathizing with the hikers does not equate to sympathizing with the Iranian government.
These hikers knowingly and with purpose grabbed on to the sparking, high voltage electrical wire of the Iranian government. I probably wasn’t the first time they made poor choices. Perhaps Darwin was right.
So what kind of moron hikes around a war zone?? Dudes need to be kept from polite society for 8 years, if only because of their utter stupidity…
Ya gotta wonder how these clowns graduated from here, don’t you?
I doubt they will serve 8. This adventure should serve as a lesson about taking unnecessary risk.
You hate “libs” so much that you’re willing to take the side of America’s enemies in order to score points off them. You’re fucking scum, dude.
Grow up, child. Who in their right mind would go walking along the unmarked border of a hostile country without knowing where the hell they are? Or do certain Cal types think they are “special”, and what happens in the real world can always be resolved by whining to Mommy, Daddy, or the Board of Regents?
People like Seer of Things represent the kind of emotional -intellectual defectives that wind up in a fix then plead ignorance. The bell tolls for them often.
BTW, I don’t hate Libs but I intensely dislike the nut jobs running the Iranian criminal government.
Iran’s Ayatollah, Ahmadinejad and their regime are criminals. They are the ones who laid siege on American embassy and kept those American officials captive for ages. They have been at war against America (and Israel) since they installed their regime via violence. The “unarmed” hikers were not spying on Iran, they were merely enjoying the great outdoors hiking, and smelling the fresh air when “armed” Iranian military surrounded them. I am a daily hiker in USA, also a Berkeley grad, living not far from Berkeley, enjoying the outdoors. There are thousands like me here. Ayatollah, Ahmadinejad and that regime should be punished severely.
Good, you can sign up and go fight the war, and take your thousands with you.
Yes, I should be able to take half of Berkeley students with me!! Some of the non-hikers may also be willing to join. Many students and grads are disgusted with this act by Iranian Military.
Good luck, bud. So, which do you prefer? Death of Prison? I guess it doesn’t matter because you won’t be the one making that choice.
This is not about the hikers. It is about Iran wanting to tell the U.S. that it is in control. Iran or Iraq would not be a place that I would choose to enjoy the outdoors…….but when you are the age of these three – you feel free, you feel immortal….you want to feel the wind on your face, smell the scent the pines, climb the tallest peaks, count the soldiers around you, practise your Farsai……..
Yes, that’s because Iran IS in control. They chose to hike on the border of a country that has poor diplomatic relations with their home country. Being even younger than the hikers, I have no false sense of immortality and I can assure you that I felt even less so while serving in the Middle East.
“they were merely enjoying the great outdoors hiking, and smelling the fresh air”
Then they should have gone to the High Sierra. It’s a lot less risky. Why were they in Pakistan near the Iranian border?
They were in Iraq near the Iranian border. Please learn to read.
Okay, but what were they doing there? Smelling the fresh air isn’t much of an explanation.
Seer, My son and his fiancee are hooked to mountain climbing – and you just can’t keep them away from the mountains. That’s true of many mountain climbers and a Berkeley degree won’t change that.
Eight years! This is outrageous!