ID :
181394
Wed, 05/11/2011 - 10:35
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/181394
The shortlink copeid
Mother of US-Jailed Iranian Woman Protests at Shourd's Absence from Tehran Court
TEHRAN, May 11 (FNA)- The mother of Shahrzad Mir-Qolikhan, an innocent Iranian woman held in US jails for the last three years, voiced protest against the absence of the US national, Sarah Emily Shourd, from her court trial in Tehran, while Shahrzad was forced to stand trial in the US and is now in prison without enough evidence.
"Today is the day of trial for the three so-called American mountaineers and Sara Shourd has not come to Tehran for the trial," Belqies rowshan told FNA on Wednesday, and said, "What is the difference between Shahrzad and Sara Shroud or Roxana Saberi?"
Saberi, a freelance journalist, was detained in late January as she continued working in Iran despite the earlier expiration of her press credentials. She was sentenced to an eight-year imprisonment on charges of spying for the government of the United States.
Her jail sentence was then reduced to a two-year suspended sentence after a court of appeals reviewed her case and she was released from detention. Saberi left the country a few days after her release and she is reportedly in the US now.
"This is while Sara Shourd and Roxana Saberi who are definitely spies, have been freed and returned to their countries but Shahrzad who is innocent and was taken to the US through deception and has been sentenced twice for a single charge, is still in prison after three years," she added.
Rowshan expressed deep concerns about her daughter's health conditions, saying, "My innocent daughter is in the US and is in bad prison conditions."
The Iranian judiciary announced on Tuesday that it plans to continue trial of the three American nationals, facing charges of illegal entry into Iran and espionage, this week.
Iranian Judiciary Spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei said the trial would be held as scheduled on May 11 unless the trio's lawyer Massoud Shafi'i requests the session to be adjourned and his request is accepted by the court.
Asked whether Shourd planned to forfeit her bail and not appear in court on the day of her trial, Mohseni Ejei said it was up to the judge to decide whether to try the 32-year-old in absentia.
Shane Michael Bauer, Joshua Felix Fattal, both 28, and Sarah Emily Shourd were arrested on July 31, 2009, after they trespassed the Iranian border from Iraq's Kurdistan region.
Prosecutor Jafari-Dolatabadi later pressed espionage charges against the three, saying he had found "compelling evidence" that the three had been cooperating with US intelligence agencies.
Shahrzad Mir-Qolikhan was detained in the US in December 2007. Her ex-husband, Mahmoud Seif, had allegedly tried to export night-vision goggles to Iran from Austria.
She was sentenced to five years of imprisonment by a Florida federal court in absentia.
In November, Melika and Melina Mir-Qolikhan, the teenage twin daughters of the innocent Iranian woman, along with their grandmother Rowshan, appeared on Iranian English language press tv channel and asked Obama to release their innocent mother.
Also earlier, Shahrzad's mother 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.
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.
"Today is the day of trial for the three so-called American mountaineers and Sara Shourd has not come to Tehran for the trial," Belqies rowshan told FNA on Wednesday, and said, "What is the difference between Shahrzad and Sara Shroud or Roxana Saberi?"
Saberi, a freelance journalist, was detained in late January as she continued working in Iran despite the earlier expiration of her press credentials. She was sentenced to an eight-year imprisonment on charges of spying for the government of the United States.
Her jail sentence was then reduced to a two-year suspended sentence after a court of appeals reviewed her case and she was released from detention. Saberi left the country a few days after her release and she is reportedly in the US now.
"This is while Sara Shourd and Roxana Saberi who are definitely spies, have been freed and returned to their countries but Shahrzad who is innocent and was taken to the US through deception and has been sentenced twice for a single charge, is still in prison after three years," she added.
Rowshan expressed deep concerns about her daughter's health conditions, saying, "My innocent daughter is in the US and is in bad prison conditions."
The Iranian judiciary announced on Tuesday that it plans to continue trial of the three American nationals, facing charges of illegal entry into Iran and espionage, this week.
Iranian Judiciary Spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei said the trial would be held as scheduled on May 11 unless the trio's lawyer Massoud Shafi'i requests the session to be adjourned and his request is accepted by the court.
Asked whether Shourd planned to forfeit her bail and not appear in court on the day of her trial, Mohseni Ejei said it was up to the judge to decide whether to try the 32-year-old in absentia.
Shane Michael Bauer, Joshua Felix Fattal, both 28, and Sarah Emily Shourd were arrested on July 31, 2009, after they trespassed the Iranian border from Iraq's Kurdistan region.
Prosecutor Jafari-Dolatabadi later pressed espionage charges against the three, saying he had found "compelling evidence" that the three had been cooperating with US intelligence agencies.
Shahrzad Mir-Qolikhan was detained in the US in December 2007. Her ex-husband, Mahmoud Seif, had allegedly tried to export night-vision goggles to Iran from Austria.
She was sentenced to five years of imprisonment by a Florida federal court in absentia.
In November, Melika and Melina Mir-Qolikhan, the teenage twin daughters of the innocent Iranian woman, along with their grandmother Rowshan, appeared on Iranian English language press tv channel and asked Obama to release their innocent mother.
Also earlier, Shahrzad's mother 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.
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.
