IRAN: American hiker, released on bail after being detained in 2009, is subpoenaed for court hearing

A woman who was among three Americans detained by Iranian forces in 2009 on suspicion of spying is wanted back in Iran for a court hearing in May, a news agency reported Tuesday.

Subpoenas issued by the Iranian Foreign Ministry indicate Sarah Shourd's presence at the court session scheduled May 11 is considered mandatory, said her lawyer, Masoud Shafii, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

Iran released Shourd on $500,000 bail in September, but her two male companions remained jailed in Tehran. Shourd, Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal, who have pleaded not guilty, were hiking near the Iran-Iraq border when they were arrested.

Espionage charges can carry the death penalty under Iranian law.

-- Emal Haidary

Photo: Sarah Shourd in September 2010. Credit: Atta Kenare / AFP/Getty Images

Comments

[Common Sense]

"The Religion of Peace" has a book, that book is known as the Qur'an. Below are quotes straight out of the Qur'an (with sura and verse numbers so you can reference).

"Muslims are harsh against the unbelievers, merciful to one another." - 48:25

"When you meet the unbelievers, smite their necks, then when you have made wide slaughter among them, tie fast the bonds, then set them free, either by grace or ransom, until the war lays down its burdens." - 47:4

"Muhammad is Allah's apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful to one another. Through them, Allah seeks to enrage the unbelievers. "- 48:29

"Fight unbelievers who are near to you." 9:123

"O believers, take not Jews and Christians as friends; they are friends of each other. Those of you who make them his friends is one of them. God does not guide an unjust people."- 5:54

"Fighting is obligatory for you, much as you dislike it." - 2:216

Open up a Qur'an, it's all in there.

[Peter Phan]

America yr better SAFE dis 3 peoples before they be dead .

[AdventureVolunteer]

M, you are entitled to your opinion and no, I won't respond with vitriole or anger. I simply expressed my opinion and you were the one who threw out the insult. I think you could have gotten your point across without an insult.

I do have one question, can you please clarify what point I am missing about the region they were in? I take care and thought into my travels and the last thing I want to do is enter a volatile country when there are other options. And leading tourist venue or not, I'm sure the State Department had clear warnings about the situation in all of Iraq and especially near the Iran border. So again, was there no where else to go on vacation that they chose Iraq?

[MissMarple]

According to Iraqi villagers nearby, the hikers were clearly on the Iraq side of the border, on a clearly marked trail. Iranian soldiers crossed the border into Iraq and kidnapped them. The trail leads to well visited falls, and is a leading tourist venue.

[M]

"AdventureVolunteer" is really not very intelligent. He/she seems to be missing the point about the region they were in, and the reason they were in the Mideast in the first place.

Think and research before you write.

And yes, I fully expect to see a retort back, full of anger, hatred, vitriole, and as "AdventureVolunteer" puts it... stupidity. I've said my piece.

[jopsjennings]

Wow she can't be in a big hurry to go back there and be at their mercy again...

[steveg68]

I'm thinking one of two things would happen to an Iranian citizen,legally here on a travel visa, who is hiking on the US side of the border:

1)Nothing.

2)Illegally shot to death by one of the "Minuteman Militia".

[David]

Maybe she can take the Gaza Flotilla half way?

[AdventureVolunteer]

My question to these three so-called 'smart' students is this...was there such a lack of hiking venues throughout the world that you had to choose the Iran/Iraq border at a time when the US is mired in an active war in one and passive/aggressive diplomacy in another? How stupid are these people? What the hec were they doing there? The US should not have to waste precious political capital for idiots like these. Typical self-absorbed, ugly Americans who think they can do whatever they want and that rules don't apply to them. Ugly Americans. Let them rot in jail for their stupidity.

[Zombeer]

Americans 'hiking' in the mountains between Iraq and Iran?

Hilarious story.

Imagine if an Iranian was hiking on the border of Mexico and the US.

He'd be taken to Guantanamo and waterboarded desperately awaiting a trial.

If they are innocent, let them be tried in court.