Report: Iran sentences American hikers to 8 years in jail
Iran's state TV is reporting that two American men already held for two years in Tehran have been sentenced to 8 years in jail each on charges of espionage and illegal entry. One of the men is Minnesota native Shane Bauer.TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's state TV is reporting that two American men already held for two years in Tehran have been sentenced to 8 years in jail each on charges of espionage and illegal entry.
Josh Fattal and Minnesota native Shane Bauer have been held since July 2009 after being taken into custody on the Iran-Iraq border. The two men and Bauer's fiancee, Sarah Shourd, who also was detained, have been accused of illegally crossing the border to spy. They deny the charges and claim they were only hiking in a scenic, mountainous area in the semiautonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, near the Iranian border.
Shourd was released last year on $500,000 bail, and has said she won't return to Iran for trial.
The Iran state TV station's website said Bauer and Fattal, who are both 28, have been sentenced to three years each for illegal entry into Iran and five years each for spying for the United States. It's not clear if that includes time served.
They have 20 days to appeal the sentence.
Josh Fattal and Minnesota native Shane Bauer have been held since July 2009 after being taken into custody on the Iran-Iraq border. The two men and Bauer's fiancee, Sarah Shourd, who also was detained, have been accused of illegally crossing the border to spy. They deny the charges and claim they were only hiking in a scenic, mountainous area in the semiautonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, near the Iranian border.
Shourd was released last year on $500,000 bail, and has said she won't return to Iran for trial.
The Iran state TV station's website said Bauer and Fattal, who are both 28, have been sentenced to three years each for illegal entry into Iran and five years each for spying for the United States. It's not clear if that includes time served.
They have 20 days to appeal the sentence.
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