PRESS RELEASE: Families of Shane Bauer & Josh Fattal Lead Rally of Hope & Prayer in New York

From www.freethehikers.org

July 29, 2011

FAMILIES OF SHANE BAUER AND JOSH FATTAL LEAD RALLY OF HOPE AND PRAYER IN NEW YORK TWO DAYS BEFORE THEIR “FINAL” COURT HEARING IN TEHRAN

Trial Session Timed for Second Anniversary of Their Detention

The families of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal will lead a peaceful rally of hope outside the Iranian Mission to the United Nations in New York at noon EDT on Friday, less than 48 hours before the two Americans are scheduled to appear in an Iranian court.  Tehran’s Chief Prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi has said he expects the court to take a “final decision” in the case on Sunday, the second anniversary of their arrest.

Bauer, a freelance photojournalist, and Fattal, an environmental advocate, both 29, are charged with illegal entry and are falsely accused of espionage. 

“If there is fairness in Iran’s legal system, their release is close at hand.  I ask everyone here to pray for the next 36 hours until Shane and Josh walk into that courtroom, so that when they walk out they are finally free men and can begin their journey back into our arms,” Bauer’s father Al Bauer said in remarks prepared for the rally.

Bauer and Fattal were arrested with Bauer’s fiancée, Sarah Shourd, on July 31, 2009 on the unmarked border between Iran and Kurdistan, a safe and semi-autonomous area of northern Iraq where they were hiking during a vacation.  Shourd, who is 32, was released last September after 410 days in solitary confinement.

Shourd, who had been living in the Middle East with her fiancé until their arrest, used her statement to wish Muslims in Iran and everywhere a Blessed Ramadan on behalf of the families of the two men.  “Please, if you could make a little room in your prayers on the eve of Ramadan for my fiancé, my friend and our families, it would mean the world to us,” she said.

“I know in my heart that when Shane and Josh walk out of prison, they will hold no bitterness towards anyone. I pray that day is very soon.  And I know their hearts will be filled with the same love and respect for the world that they had two years ago. If anything, they will have more,” Shourd added.

Bauer and Fattal were not formally charged until Shourd’s release last September and have appeared in court only once – on February 6 this year when they testified to their innocence verbally and in writing.  Their last contact with their families was on May 22, in one of only three brief telephone calls home they have been able to make since their arrest.  

Fattal’s mother Laura Fattal, Faraz Sanei, Middle East Researcher for Human Rights Watch and Shahid Mahmood, prominent Muslim-American from the New York area, were also scheduled to address the rally.  Bauer and Fattal will be represented in court by their Iranian lawyer, Mr. Masoud Shafii.

“We do not expect to get much sleep between now and Sunday,” Laura Fattal said.  “The judiciary in Iran says it will be the final hearing.  We hope and pray that this is true.  Josh and Shane are clearly innocent.  730 days is more than enough.  It is time for them to get back to their lives.  That time is now.”