Iran denies US hikers' charges of political motives, brutality

Sep 28, 2011, 6:07 GMT

Tehran - Iran has denied charges by two US hikers that they were arrested due to political motives and treated with brutality in prison, state media reported Thursday.

'The three US citizens have had all the rights of a prisoner and even beyond that,' Deputy Foreign Minister Hassan Qashqavi was quoted by Mehr news agency as saying.

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were detained in July 2009 with their companion Sarah Shourd after crossing into Iran from Iraq's Kurdistan region.

Shourd was released in September 2010 on health grounds and returned to the United States, while a Tehran court in August sentenced Bauer and Fattal to eight years in prison.

Following mediation by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian judiciary on Sunday released the two after a 1-million-dollar bail was posted. They left Tehran immediately to Oman and back to the US.

Speaking in New York on Tuesday, the two accused the Iranian regime of 'brutality,' and said they were detained because they were Americans, and that the government had tied their case to its political disputes with the US.

Qashqavi disputed the comments, saying 'their charges were illegal entry and espionage and had nothing to do with their nationality.'

The deputy foreign minister also said their lawyer Massoud Shafei could confirm that the three US citizens had always been treated decently.

Shafei also denied the charges made by his clients, but admitted that he has only met them before court sessions and not inside the prison.

Legal experts in Tehran also said the bail in this case was more like a cash fine, as they were unlikely to return to court in Iran.

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