US hikers' lawyer prevented from leaving Iran
AFP / AFP
02-Oct-2011 (one comment)

TEHRAN — Lawyer Masoud Shafii who represented the now free US hikers held for two years in Iran on espionage and illegal entry charges was barred from leaving the country on Sunday, a source close to the case told AFP.

"This morning at around six o'clock (0230 GMT), after getting his passport stamped and as he was boarding the plane, his passport was confiscated by order of the judiciary," the source said on condition of anonymity.

The source added that Shafii "could not proceed to his final destination which was the United States," without elaborating on why his passport had been seized.

On Tuesday Shafii was arrested at his home and questioned for several hours by judiciary officials before being released, the source said, adding that agents confiscated documents, his computer and his passport, but returned them later.

Shafii represented Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd in a case which lasted for more than two years. He always maintained that his clients were innocent, and was criticised by conservative hardliners in the Islamic republic.

Shafii also criticised the judiciary for not allowing him proper access to the three, as required by the law.

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Simorgh5555

Will he be charged with rape as well?

by Simorgh5555 on

The Iranian judicial process in 10 easy steps:  

One: Get arrested.

Two: Get barred from leaving your country.

Three: Be taken into Evin prison or held incommunicado  in a detention centre 'somewhere' in Iran

Four: Get tortured and possibly raped

Five: Get news released that you are being held alive and in 'good health' because of international pressure

Six: Be told that you will be put in trial for espionage for foreign government

Seven: If no one believes [Six] invent a new charge such as rape or Mohreb 

Eight: Be forced to confess after they threaten your family or promise stay of execution

Nine: Sign false confession under duress

Ten: They kill you anyway 



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