Iranian lawyer: Jailed hikers need judge’s signature to post bail

Everything is in place to post bail (for Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer) and to have them released, except for the signature of a judge.
Masoud Shafii, the lawyer for the American hikers jailed in Iran • Revealing that the fate of the two men rested in the hands of a judge — the $500,000 bail for each is in place, it’s just a matter of getting the judge to make a critical last step. Then Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal would be able to go home. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi hoped the judiciary would so so. “We hope the judiciary will announce its decision in the near future … According to our information, the judiciary has the intention of reducing their sentences,” Salehi said. The judiciary, which is very conservative, recently contradicted the words of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, claiming that the hikers would not get released right away. source

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The two Americans are going to stay in prison for a bit longer. Reports of their imminent release are wrong.
An Iranian judiciary official • Basically contradicting what Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said about the fates of American hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, who have been held by Iran for two years for what effectively amounts to trespassing. Was Ahmadinejad simply making nice with Ann Curry? Or sounding nice for the United Nations? If so, that’s really lame. source

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I’m concerned about the disclosure of sensitive information from the battlefield that could potentially jeopardize individuals or operations. … The fact is these documents don’t reveal any issues that haven’t already informed our public debate about Afghanistan.
President Barack Obama • Saying one thing but immediately contradicting himself. If this data was so sensitive, how come it doesn’t reveal an issues that haven’t already informed our public debate? Security experts suggest that the documents don’t create an immediate threat, but note that the tendency is dangerous. Tying this into last week’s “Top Secret America” thang that the Post did, it’s possible that the government’s tendency to overclassify documents hit here too. But this sort of doublespeak simply doesn’t get us anywhere. source

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17 Sep 2011 11:31