VIDEO NEWS REPORTS
CNN VIDEO: #USHIKERS GO ON TRIAL
Feb 7th
REPUBLISHED FROM CNN:
U.S. hikers held in Iran go on trial
Tehran, Iran (CNN) — The trial of three U.S. hikers started Sunday in Iran, according to the office of the lawyer representing them.
Iran accuses Americans Shane Bauer, 28, Josh Fattal, 28, and Sarah Shourd, 32, of spying and trespassing.
They were detained July 31, 2009, after they allegedly strayed across an unmarked border into Iran while hiking in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
Shourd was released on bail in September 2010 because of a medical condition and immediately left the country. She has not responded to a court summons to return to stand trial, lawyer Masoud Shafii said Saturday.
Iranian authorities said she will be tried in absentia if she doesn’t appear in court.
The trial is closed to the press and the public, as is normally the case with revolutionary court proceedings. Iranian state media reported Sunday that not-guilty pleas had been entered for the three hikers.
Livia Lea Agosti, Swiss Ambassador to Iran
The Swiss ambassador to Iran, who represents American interests in the country, told CNN that Sunday’s trial will likely not continue the next day, but at a later date.
“It’s going to be soon,” Ambassador Livia Lea Agosti said, though she declined to divulge her source. “It’s not going to be another three-month wait.”
Agosti was not invited to attend the hikers’ trial but showed up anyway, she said. She was not able to enter the courtroom but she put in a request to see Bauer and Fattal, according to official IRNA news agency. The pair were present in the courtroom for the proceedings, she told CNN.
Agosti also said that Shourd’s decision not to return to Iran to stand trial was her own.
“This was Shourd’s personal decision and I don’t have any information as to why she didn’t appear for the trial,” the ambassador said, according to IRNA.
Shafii, the attorney, said he had been denied permission to see Bauer and Fattal the day before the trial began. He told CNN he has reviewed his clients’ case file and doesn’t see any evidence of a crime.
“In my opinion, they haven’t done anything wrong,” Shafii said. “The accusation of spying is baseless, and if they trespassed into Iran, it wasn’t their fault.”
Shafii said the border area where the hikers are accused of trespassing is unmarked and anyone could unwittingly cross over into Iran.
Human rights groups have condemned their arrests and their lengthy wait for a trial in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.
CNN’s Reza Sayah contributed to this report
SPECIAL SCREENING OF SHANE BAUER’S FILM ABOUT DARFUR
Oct 19th
Special Screening of Songs to Enemies and Deserts
Free the Hikers, in conjunction with MN Film Arts, are hosting a special screening of this documentary created by Shane Bauer and David Martinez. Songs to Enemies and Deserts is a work of art created by Shane and David about the people of Darfur and their pursuit of a peaceful community. Please join us!!
- DATE: October 23, 2010
- TIME: 1:30 PM (35 minutes in length)
- PLACE: St Anthony Main
- ADDRESS: 115 SE Main St, Minneapolis, MN 55414
- COST: $12 ($8 Students)
- FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE
- DOWNLOAD PDF FLYER
- EVENT PAGE ON MAIN FREE THE HIKERS SITE
This documentary is about an area of Sudan that is controlled by two factions of armed rebels. It is about the daily lives of the farmers and herders who live there as they interact with the rebels who try and hold the forces of the Janjaweed and the Sudanese army at bay.
INTERVIEW WITH DAVID & SHANE FOR CURRENT TV ABOUT THE FILM:
This is a short news piece that Current TV did about Songs to Enemies and Deserts. Shane is on the viewer’s right and his co-director, David Martinez is on the left.
SHANE BAUER ON MAKING THE FILM, REPUBLISHED FROM HIS WEBSITE:
Songs to Enemies and Deserts:
A Film About The Rebels Of Darfur
From the mountains of Jebel Marra in central Darfur a ragged group of rebels swept down onto Sudanese military bases in 2003, routing the government’s soldiers and making off with rifles, artillery, and vehicles. The Sudan Liberation Army had scored its first victory, and no one could predict what would follow. Instead of taking on the rebels directly, the Khartoum government sent bombers and horse mounted militias to murder and terrorize Darfuri civilians. The ensuing horrors were documented by the international news media and the world’s outcry was part of the reason that the attacks subsided, at least temporarily. With the government murdering the civilian population to quell the rebellion, the rebels became the civilians’ only protection force.
Who are these men and why did they begin fighting in the first place, and what part do they play in the ongoing situation that is Darfur? Their demands are widely supported by the civilian population: they want roads and schools, clean water, health care, and representation in their country’s despotic government, controlled by an elite that has ruled from the country’s northern region since the Sudanese gained independence from the British in 1956.
David Martinez and I wanted to understand these rebels’ world, their motivations, their histories, who they were and why they fought. We felt that in all of the attention that Darfur was getting, the Darfuri people themselves were often portrayed as abject victims, with hands outstretched, needing the west to come to their rescue. And yet here were Darfuris who had risen up against a murderous and racist regime, people who were very far from being helpless Africans.
In August 2007 we went and found them in North Darfur, lived with them for five weeks, and shot a movie about them.
ABOUT THE FILM:
Songs To Enemies And Deserts, (35 minutes), NTSC, Color, Filmed on digital video. In Arabic, Zaghawa, and English with English subtitles. Directed by David Martinez and Shane Bauer, photographed by David Martinez, edited by David Martinez, Shane Bauer, and Iona Sidi. Sound mixed by Luis Guerra, Terremoto Studios, New Mexico.
SCENE FROM THE FILM:
Our heartfelt thanks to MN Film Arts for their assistance & to all supporters of Free The Hikers!
Sarah was released September 14, 2010. Shane and Josh remain in detention.
Please show your support for our efforts to release them to their families.
ALL proceeds go to FREE THE HIKERS!
SARAH SHOURD APPEARS ON OPRAH TODAY
Sep 23rd
In her continuing efforts to help free her fiancé, Shane Bauer, and friend, Josh Fattal, Sarah has agreed to appear on Oprah today. Please watch her today on ABC!
PREVIEW OF SARAH SHOURD’S INTERVIEW ON OPRAH
An Oprah Show Exclusive: Freed Hiker Sarah Shourd’s First National Television Interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show Thursday, September 23.
CHICAGO, IL — In her first national television interview, freed hiker Sarah Shourd is speaking out about being held captive as a prisoner in Iran for 410 days, largely in solitary confinement, her pleas to end the detention of her fiancé, Shane Bauer, and their friend Josh Fattal and the events that made her recent release possible in an Oprah Show exclusive Thursday, September 23, 2010. Joined in-studio by her mother, Nora Shourd, Cindy Hickey (Shane’s mother) and Laura Fattal (Josh’s mother), the former prisoner reveals how she’s coping under the strain of being at the center of an intense international story and talks about the continued efforts to reunite her fellow hikers with their families.
SARAH SHOURD MAKES FIRST PUBLIC STATEMENT ON RETURN TO US
Sep 19th
American hiker Sarah Shourd made the following remarks at a news conference in New York today following her return to the United States. Sarah, 32, was released from detention in Iran after 410 days in solitary confinement on September 14. Her fiancé Shane Bauer and their close friend Josh Fattal, both 28, remain held in Evin Prison, Tehran. To learn more about Sarah, Shane and Josh, please visit freethehikers.org.
REMARKS BY SARAH SHOURD—SEPTEMBER 19, 2010
Welcome everyone and thank you for being here today. I want to begin by again expressing my sincere thanks to the government and religious leaders of Iran. My gratitude goes in particular to Ayatollah Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad for my compassionate release from detention.
It is my deepest hope that the world will not let this humanitarian gesture by the Iranian government and judicial branch go unrecognized. I believe this decision is a step in the right direction for all of us and, above all, for my fiancé Shane and my dear friend Josh.
Shourd said in a press conference in New York that she and her companions "committed no crime"
I will forever be grateful to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman for his untiring commitment to our case and the warmth of his people’s welcome. When I stepped out of the plane into that beautiful country the caress of the sweet, fragrant breeze was a promise—a promise Shane and Josh’s suffering too will end.
I also want to thank the American people and our government, and people and governments all around the world who have advocated for our release and supported our families for more than 13 months. Lastly, I want to extend my gratitude to our lawyer Masoud Shafii for his tireless work on our behalf and to my friend Ambassador Leu of Switzerland for her support and continued engagement.
Getting on the plane in Tehran was one of the most memorable and important moments of my life. But this is not the time to celebrate. My disappointment at not sharing that moment with Shane and Josh was crushing. And I stand before you today only one third free. That was the last thing that Josh said to me before I walked through the prison doors. Josh and Shane felt one third free at that moment and so did I.
The only thing that enabled me to cross the gulf from prison to freedom alone was the knowledge that Shane and Josh wanted with all their hearts for my suffering to end. They showed nothing but joy at my release and that more than anything is testimony to the selflessness and beauty of their spirits.
I had many concerns about my health while I was in prison. Thankfully, doctors in Oman have reassured me that I am physically well. As we say in Arabic, al-Hamdilullah, Praise be to God.
Shane and Josh do not deserve to be in prison one day longer than I was. We committed no crime and we are not spies. We in no way intended any harm to the Iranian government or its people and believe a huge misunderstanding led to our arrest and prolonged detention.
Shane, Josh and I had no knowledge of our proximity to the Iran-Iraq border when we went hiking behind the Ahmed Awa waterfall, a popular tourist site frequented by local families in Iraqi Kurdistan. If we were indeed near the Iraq-Iran border, that border was entirely unmarked and indistinguishable.
Though my friends and I never intended or chose to go to Iran, the tragedy of our imprisonment has forever marked our destinies. I never in my worst nightmare imagined that I would be a prisoner. I never saw it coming, and I never knew that my family would have to suffer like this.
I want to be clear that I do not in any way blame the Iranian people for the pain our families and friends are suffering. I found Iranians to be a diverse, generous people defined by their fervent worship of God and noble Islamic values. Like all of us, they love their families and they want to live in peace.
At the time of our arrest, Shane and I were working in the Middle East and living in Damascus, Syria. Shane is a courageous and talented international journalist and I taught English to Iraqi and Palestinian refugees, as well as Syrian nationals. Josh is an environmental teacher who arrived in Syria as our guest less than a week before our arrest after leading a study abroad program about global heath challenges.
My hope is that by learning who we are and how we came to be in this diverse and fascinating region of the world directly from my lips, it will help clear up any doubts and end Shane and Josh’s detention. I intend to talk about these issues more in the days and weeks ahead because it is time to clear up the misunderstanding that led to our imprisonment.
I also firmly believe that now is the time to make the world a little safer for everyone through peace and dialogue. I believe that our tragedy is an opportunity for Americans and Iranians to realize that an improved relationship would be in the best interest of all people. My hope is that, in our own, small way, Shane, Josh and I as individuals can help begin to build a bridge between our two disparate countries and cultures.
I walked out of prison with my spirit bruised but unbroken and I am more determined than ever that Shane and Josh—God Willing, Inshallah—will soon walk out the same way. My life begins again the day I go to pick them up, the day when all three of us can be reunited with our families with the walls of prison far behind us.
My work is cut out for me and I need all the help I can get. I ask everyone who cares about Shane and Josh’s freedom to please stand behind us and our families so that we can make this final push for their freedom together. I also ask the governments and people of the world to please help in the process of cooperation and bridge-building at this crucial time.
Please help us free Shane and Josh. Please help us create an atmosphere of goodwill in the world. Thank you.
CLICK HERE FOR PDF VERSION OF SARAH SHOURD’S STATEMENT
MOMS PLEAD FOR HIKER SONS’ RELEASE ON @CNN
Sep 15th
“We’re so happy Sarah’s home—but it’s our turn to have our kids back with us.”
~ Laura Fattal, Mother of Hiker Josh Fattal
REPUBLISHED FROM CNN AMERICAN MORNING—amFIX BLOG:
Posted: 09:00 AM ET Wednesday, September 15, 2010
(CNN) The mothers of two U.S. men still being held in Iran told CNN they are hopeful their sons will soon be able to join recently released detainee Sarah Shourd and enjoy their freedom too.
“What we really want of course is there release,” Laura Fattal said on CNN’s American Morning. “We’re so happy Sarah’s home – but it’s our turn to have our kids back with us.”
Laura Fattal appeared with Cindy Hicky on Wednesday’s American Morning to appeal to Iran to release their two sons who have been detained for more than a year. They spoke out a day after Sarah Shourd was released from Iran and reunited with her mother in Muscat, Oman after Iranian authorities released her from a Tehran prison where she had been held for 14 months.
The three Americans were detained after they allegedly strayed across an unmarked border into Iran while hiking in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. Iran accused the three of spying, a charge the United States and the hikers have denied.
Shourd, 32, left behind fellow Americans Shane Bauer, 28, who is her fiance, and their friend, Josh Fattal, 28.
Laura Fattal made a plea to Iran and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad toelease the two men to end a situation that she says should have been avoided from the beginning
“Iran knows they have three innocent hikers, one of which they released,” Fattal told CNN.
ABC VIDEO: MOMS PLEAD FOR SONS’ RELEASE FROM IRAN
Sep 15th
REPUBLISHED FROM ABC NEWS—GOOD MORNING AMERICA:
Posted: Wednesday, September 15, 2010
By JIM SCIUTTO, LEE FERRAN and DESIREE ADIB
American Hiker Sarah Shourd to Head Straight to Doctor’s Office
Shourd Was Expected to Get a Medical Exam Today After Being Freed From Iran Prison
American Sarah Shourd is feeling “strong and healthy,” according to a source close to the hiker’s family.
After almost 14 months of mostly solitary confinement in Iran on charges of espionage, Shourd was released Tuesday on $500,000 bail partially because of medical concerns, Iranian officials said. She reportedly is suffering from a serious gynecological condition and found a lump in her breast.
Shourd was scheduled to visit a doctor today for a medical examination on her first day of freedom from an Iranian prison, sources familiar with the situation told ABC News.
Swiss diplomats who represent U.S. interests in Iran warned Shourd’s family last May that the 32-year-old woman was suffering from depression.
Public discussion of her release began on Sept. 9 after a lawyer for Shourd claimed he “warned” Iranian officials that her health was deteriating.
“I gave a letter to Tehran investigators, and I warned [them] about Sarah’s situation, and that her health is very weak. They can hold them for up to a year for the investigation, but not more than a year if they haven’t been given a proper trial,” attorney Masoud Shafie told ABC News through a translator last week.
Earlier this month, Shourd’s mother, along with the mothers of two other American hikers still currently detained in Iran, pleaded Iranian officials to release the hikers, saying she were “gravely concerned” for Shourd’s health.
As Shourd receives medical attention today, the mothers of the other two captives made an impassioned plea directly to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to free their sons.
“Josh and Shane are still detained in Iran, as you well know,” Laura Fattal said on “Good Morning America” of her son Josh Fattal and his friend, Shane Bauer, directly addressing Ahmadinejad. “We thank you for bringing Sarah home, but now it is time [to] bring Josh and Shane home. We urge you … to show the same compassion you had for Sarah to bring Josh and Shane home.”
“I was very happy for Sarah and her mom,” Cindy Hicky, Bauer’s mother, said. “But very sad that Shane wouldn’t be coming with her. … How hard it must have been for them to separate.”
Sarah Shourd’s Fiance Remains in Iranian Prison
Bauer and Shourd became engaged while they were in captivity and broke the news to their parents in May during the only meeting the mothers and prisoners have had since their July 2009 arrests. They were captured while hiking near the relatively unmarked Iran-Iraq border after allegedly crossing into Iran. They have been accused of espionage.
Upon release, Shourd said she would do everything she could to secure her fiance’s and friend’s release.
“All of my efforts, starting today, are going to go into helping procure the same freedom for my fiance Shane Bauer and my friend Josh Fattal because I can’t enjoy my freedom without them,” she said Tuesday. “They should be standing here with me.”
When she was released, Shourd thanked officials in Iran and singled out Ahmadinejad for the “humanitarian gesture.” Fattal and Hicky also thanked Ahmadinejad for what they called his intervention in Shourd’s case, and agreed with a State Department challenge for him to bring the two captives with him when Ahmadinejad comes to the United States for an upcoming United Nations presentation.
“We’re always hopeful. … I hope he really takes that to heart,” Hicky said.
“It’s their turn now,” Fattal said.
The hikers’ mothers offered a similar challenge for Ahmadinejad to bring home all three hikers before his last appearance at the U.N. in May. Then, Ahmadinejad said he had “no influence” over the judicial process.
“We have laws. There’s a due process of law that is being observed,” Ahmadinejad told “GMA’s” George Stephanopoulos May 4. “The judicial system in Iran is independent of political influence. It’s under the influence of judicial laws.”
President Obama Asks Iran to Release Two More Hikers
President Obama said Tuesday he was “very pleased” by Shourd’s release and called for the release of the other two hikers in a statement, saying they “have committed no crime.”
“We remain hopeful that Iran will demonstrate renewed compassion by ensuring the return of Shane, Josh and all the other missing or detained Americans in Iran,” Obama said.
The State Department said that the willingness to release Shourd proved Iran’s ability to “resolve” all the hikers’ cases.
Iranian officials, including Ahmadinejad, had announced last week that Shourd would be released Sept. 11.
Officials in Iran’s judiciary canceled Shourd’s release Friday, but reversed the decision Sunday on the condition that her family post $500,000 bail, according to an Iranian prosecutor who spoke to Iran’s IRNA news agency.
A “bank guarantee” for the bail had been given, an attorney for the hikers, Masoud Shafie, told ABC News Tuesday.
“The case inspector informed the Tehran prosecutor of a bank guarantee concerning the posting of bail and after the prosecutor’s agreement, he issued the order for her freedom,” the prosecutor’s website said Tuesday, according to PressTV Iran.
The report did not say who was responsible for the guarantee, but two U.S. officials said Iran had received “assurances” from the country of Oman concerning the bail money.
A senior U.S. official familiar with the negotiations said Monday that the U.S. government would not be contributing any cash for Shourd’s release.
ABC News’ Jason Stine, Kirit Radia, Sabrina Parise, Thea Trachtenberg, Kevin Dolak, Jessica Hopper and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2010 ABC News Internet Ventures
SISTER OF IMPRISONED HIKER SHANE BAUER HOLDS VIGIL IN BOULDER, CO
Aug 1st
REPUBLISHED FROM COLORADO DAILY:
Hikers have been detained in Iran for one year
By Joe Rubino, Camera Staff Writer
At 1:33 p.m. Saturday, 24-year-old Boulder resident Shannon Bauer stood in front of the Boulder County Courthouse, amid Pearl Street Mall shoppers and tourists on a hot summer day.
At that very minute, exactly one year ago, Bauer and her family first received word that her older brother, Shane Bauer, his girlfriend, Sarah Shourd, and their friend, Josh Fattal, had been captured by the Iranian government while hiking along an unmarked stretch of the Iraq-Iran border. The three remain captives in Iran to this day.
The Boulder “Free the Hikers” vigil, held Saturday afternoon on the Pearl Street Mall, was one of more than 15 events worldwide—some as far away as New Delhi, India—commemorating what organizers call one year of unjust detention for the three American citizens.
Bauer, who was helped by a rotating group of 10 to 15 friends and volunteers Saturday, held the vigil to continue spreading awareness of her brother’s plight and to apply pressure to both the Iranian and United States governments to release her brother, Stroud and Fattal.
“I have a goal of at least one person finding out about it and going on the Web site and showing how much they care,” Bauer said of Saturday’s vigil. “The ultimate goal every day is that they come home.”
A table set up for the vigil featured photos of the three captives. Volunteers sold T-shirts and buttons and accepted donations to support the “Free the Hikers” cause. The main goal, however, was to gather signatures on a petition asking the Iranian government to release the hikers. More than 60 signatures had been collected by 2 p.m. Saturday
“I had a couple of people telling me signing something wasn’t going to do anything,” said Sarah Kubley, a neighbor and friend of Bauer’s who helped out Saturday. “That’s just a good excuse to do nothing.”
Bauer and several others read prepared speeches at the vigil. Barbara Petersen, of Littleton, studied abroad with Fattal in South Africa in 2009. She was too emotional to finish her speech, so her father, Craig, read most of it.
Bauer hasn’t spoken to her brother since his arrest. She found out about his engagement to Shourd after their mother briefly visited him in his Tehran prison cell in March.
“Everything kind of changed,” said Bauer’s partner, Natalie Seuske. “We can’t leave cell phone reception because we’re always waiting for that call. Shannon has had health issues related to the stress.”
Despite the emotional distress it has caused her, Bauer takes solace in the community response.
“This situation generally is not something many people go through,” she said. “So to have this type of support is one of the main things getting us through this. People who don’t even know them want to see them come home.”
Melissa Parker, a resident of Union, Ky., signed the “Free the Hikers” petition. She was vacationing in Boulder with her family.
“It’s just really sad to think there are people over there that our government can’t help release,” she said. “We just keep them in our prayers.”
CHECKOUT MORE PHOTOS FROM THE BOULDER EVENT:
IRANIAN SCIENTIST’S APPEARANCE SPARKS HOPES FOR #USHIKERS’ RELEASE
Jul 13th
The incredible story of a missing Iranian scientist dramatically showing up at the Pakistani embassy in Washington has sparked speculation over whether the scientist’s appearance could be linked to a possible swap deal for three US hikers detained in Iran in 2009.
On Tuesday, Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri surfaced at the Iranian interests section of the Pakistani embassy in Washington, apparently requesting to be returned home and claiming he was abducted by US agents.
Amiri disappeared while on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in June 2009. Iran has long maintained that he was abducted and flown to the US by CIA agents. The Iranian State TV Web site reported that Amiri, in a phone call from Washington, had claimed to have been under psychological pressure in recent months.
But in an interview with FRANCE 24, a US State Department official, who declined to be named, maintained that “Amiri has been in the US of his own free will and he is leaving of his own free will”. She declined to provide further details of his stay in the US or the manner in which he would leave.
The claims and counterclaims, along with three video clips of a man purporting to be Amiri but offering contradictory narratives, put many spy thrillers to shame. As analysts scramble to get to the truth of the murky story, a number of likely explanations have been circulating in international policy circles, including suggestions that Amiri – if indeed he was in US custody – might be swapped for three US hikers who have been held in Tehran since July 2009.
Recent Picture of Shane, Sarah & Josh
The three hikers – Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal – were detained on July 31, 2009 when they were hiking in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan, according to their families and friends. Initial reports said the three had accidentally wandered into Iranian territory in the mountainous area along the Iran-Iraq border.
But in a report in the US weekly The Nation, local villagers said the hikers were detained on the Iraqi side of the border.
While Iranian officials have made references to the possibility of trying them for espionage, no official charges have been announced.
‘We’re always hoping’
For Nora Shourd, mother of 31-year-old Sarah Shourd, one of the three captured hikers, the news of Amiri’s mysterious appearance in Washington has sparked hopes that her daughter and her two friends could be released.
Sarah with her mother, Nora during their recent visit
“We’re always hoping,” said Shourd in a phone interview with FRANCE 24 from London, where she is currently on a European tour to raise awareness of her daughter’s plight. “It’s difficult for the families [of the abducted hikers]. We always hope that some development will tip it over and our children will be released. So, I’m always hoping.”
But Shourd maintained that she was not aware of any deal, negotiations or links between the Amiri case and the three hikers.
“This story is so strange, there are so many versions of the story, you don’t know what to believe,” said Shourd. “But no, we haven’t heard anything from any US officials. So, we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Speaking to FRANCE 24 on Tuesday, a US State Department official said the US government has repeatedly called, and continues to call, for the hikers’ release. But she denied reports of any negotiations concerning their release. “Regarding any reports of their release, I would refer you to the Iranian authorities,” she said.
In brief remarks to reporters in Washington about the incident on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Amiri was free to leave the US and return home.
“These are decisions that are his alone to make,” Clinton said. “In contrast, Iran continues to hold three young Americans against their will, and we reiterate our request that they be released and allowed to return to their families on a humanitarian basis.”
Written By Leela JACINTO the 13/07/2010 – 19:45
Video by: Ed O’KEEFE
ORIGINAL FACEBOOK POST:
France24 International News: “Mother of Hiker Detained in Iran Hopes for Her Release” #SSJ #FREEtheHikers #SolitarySarah
Mother of hiker detained in Iran hopes for her release
www.france24.com
The incredible story of a missing Iranian scientist dramatically showing up at the Pakistani embassy in Washington has sparked speculation over whether the scientist’s appearance could be linked to a possible swap deal for three US hikers detained in Iran in 2009.
VIDEO BY @SAFEWORLD4WOMEN: SHANE BAUER’S MOTHER TALKS OF HIS JOURNALISM & SOCIAL ACTIVISM
Jul 7th
VIDEO: Shane Bauer’s mother Cindy talks of his journalism & social activism @safeworld4women #SSJ #FREEtheHikers
Shane Bauer’s mother Cindy talks for the first time about his journalism, views and activism. Shane is held hostage in Iran along with Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal. Also see our article:US HOSTAGES.
The Real Hikers: Shane Bauer—Hostage in Iran
CNN—MOMS OF #USHIKERS: “RELEASE OUR CHILDREN IN #IRAN”
Jun 17th
REPUBLISHED FROM CNN 17 JUNE 2010:The mothers of three US hikers who remain jailed in Iran are demanding their children be released or tried. It’s the first time the families have criticized the Iranians since their children were arrested near the Iraq-Iran border and charged with espionage last year. Laura Fattal, mother of imprisoned US hiker Josh Fattal, joined CNN via phone on American Morning.
LAURA FATTAL ON CNN’S AMERICAN MORNING:
