ID :
207832
Sun, 09/18/2011 - 13:40
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/207832
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American Religious Leaders Vow to Make Efforts to Free Iranian Prisoners in US
TEHRAN (FNA)- A number of American religious leaders in a meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad here in Tehran vowed to do their best to free Iranian prisoners held in the US.
During the meeting, the four American religious leaders expressed the hope that the trend of developments would move in a way that they can push for the freedom of the Iranian inmates in the US.
More than 60 Iranian nationals are being held in US prisons, 11 of them on political grounds and without any proof or evidence.
Among the Iranian prisoners in the United States are Amir Hossein Ardebili, extradited to the US by Georgia, and Shahrzad Mir-Qolikhan, arrested under false charges.
A US District Court in Wilmington, Delaware, handed out a five-year term to Ardebili based on the prosecutor's claim that he had "secretly pleaded guilty" to arms smuggling and weapons export charges.
Shahrzad was arrested in the US in December 2007 after being forced to return to the United States from a vacation in Cyprus.
Her former husband, Mahmoud Seif, had allegedly tried to export night-vision goggles to Iran from Austria. However, she was detained and sentenced to five years in prison by a Florida federal court in the absence of her husband.
In November, Melika and Melina Mir-Qolikhan, the teenage twin daughters of the innocent Iranian woman, along with their grandmother Rowshan, appeared on the Iranian English language press tv channel and asked Obama to release their innocent mother.
Shahrzad's mother has unveiled new details about abuse, torture and cruel treatment of her daughter by the US prison guards and jailors, and stressed that her daughter is held against the law since her retrial in the US violated the international and US laws.
Belqeis Rowshan said in an interview with FNA at the time that her daughter was initially sentenced to 52 days of imprisonment by an Austrian court in 2005 and her case was closed after she served her prison term.
"Again and after a short period, a US court sentenced Shahrzad to five years of imprisonment for the same case, while based on the international laws courts are not allowed to issue two (consecutive) rulings for a single case," Rowshan stated.
"That means that the US action on the case was wrong in essence and they know this," she stressed, reminding that her family attorney also confirm her words.
This is while Iran has shown a soft position on the case of the western nationals who have been arrested on charges of spying against Iran.
In 2009, Iran arrested three American nationals on charges of spying after they illegally trespassed Iraq's border with Iran.
Iran later freed one of the three American inmates, Sarah Shourd, on humanitarian and medical grounds in September 2010. Also Iran's President Ahmadinejad announced earlier this week that Tehran plans to release the other two American inmates, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, on USD 500,000 bail.
Their lawyer, Massoud Shafi'ee, also confirmed the report, saying, "Branch 36 of the revision court has consented to release these two American nationals on a bail of half a million dollar."
Also in March 2007, Iran released 15 British sailors who were arrested 11 days earlier after trespassing Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf.
During the meeting, the four American religious leaders expressed the hope that the trend of developments would move in a way that they can push for the freedom of the Iranian inmates in the US.
More than 60 Iranian nationals are being held in US prisons, 11 of them on political grounds and without any proof or evidence.
Among the Iranian prisoners in the United States are Amir Hossein Ardebili, extradited to the US by Georgia, and Shahrzad Mir-Qolikhan, arrested under false charges.
A US District Court in Wilmington, Delaware, handed out a five-year term to Ardebili based on the prosecutor's claim that he had "secretly pleaded guilty" to arms smuggling and weapons export charges.
Shahrzad was arrested in the US in December 2007 after being forced to return to the United States from a vacation in Cyprus.
Her former husband, Mahmoud Seif, had allegedly tried to export night-vision goggles to Iran from Austria. However, she was detained and sentenced to five years in prison by a Florida federal court in the absence of her husband.
In November, Melika and Melina Mir-Qolikhan, the teenage twin daughters of the innocent Iranian woman, along with their grandmother Rowshan, appeared on the Iranian English language press tv channel and asked Obama to release their innocent mother.
Shahrzad's mother has unveiled new details about abuse, torture and cruel treatment of her daughter by the US prison guards and jailors, and stressed that her daughter is held against the law since her retrial in the US violated the international and US laws.
Belqeis Rowshan said in an interview with FNA at the time that her daughter was initially sentenced to 52 days of imprisonment by an Austrian court in 2005 and her case was closed after she served her prison term.
"Again and after a short period, a US court sentenced Shahrzad to five years of imprisonment for the same case, while based on the international laws courts are not allowed to issue two (consecutive) rulings for a single case," Rowshan stated.
"That means that the US action on the case was wrong in essence and they know this," she stressed, reminding that her family attorney also confirm her words.
This is while Iran has shown a soft position on the case of the western nationals who have been arrested on charges of spying against Iran.
In 2009, Iran arrested three American nationals on charges of spying after they illegally trespassed Iraq's border with Iran.
Iran later freed one of the three American inmates, Sarah Shourd, on humanitarian and medical grounds in September 2010. Also Iran's President Ahmadinejad announced earlier this week that Tehran plans to release the other two American inmates, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, on USD 500,000 bail.
Their lawyer, Massoud Shafi'ee, also confirmed the report, saying, "Branch 36 of the revision court has consented to release these two American nationals on a bail of half a million dollar."
Also in March 2007, Iran released 15 British sailors who were arrested 11 days earlier after trespassing Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf.
