Families of UC Berkeley Grads Detained in Iran Hope for Release This Week

By Bay City News Service

Family members of two University of California at Berkeley graduates who have been detained in Iran on espionage charges for two years hope they will be freed later this week.

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 29, and a third UC Berkeley graduate, Sarah Shourd, were arrested on July 31, 2009, after embarking on a hike in Iraq's Kurdistan region near the Iranian border.

Iran has accused them of espionage, but the hikers and their families say they aren't spies but instead were detained after they accidentally crossed an unmarked border into Iran.

Iran released Shourd, 32, who is engaged to Bauer, last September because she was in poor health. Shourd announced in May that she would not return to Iran for a trial because she is suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Iranian authorities held a four-hour hearing for Bauer and Fattal on Sunday, according to a statement issued by Shourd and the men's families.

The families said the attorney for Bauer and Fattal, Masoud Shafii, told them that the judge in the case announced in court that he would issue his verdict within a week.

"We are pleased that the hearing was the final session in the case and now hope for an outcome that will bring freedom for Shane and Josh," the statement from Shourd and the families read. They said Shafii told them that Bauer and Fattal "both appeared to be well and in good spirits."

Bauer and Fattal again testified as to their innocence, and Shaffii had an opportunity to present their defense, according to the family's account.

"We pray that the Iranian authorities will show compassion to Shane and Josh and we ask everyone who supports them and cares for them to join us in beseeching the grace of God at this important time," the statement read. The family members added, "The coming days fill us with great hope but they will also be difficult for our families. We ask the media to understand that we do not plan to make any further comment at this time."

Shourd and the families of Bauer and Fattal led a rally outside the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York on Friday to demand that Bauer and Fattal be released.