MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) - Iranian human rights activist and lawyer Shirin Ebadi called for Iranian authorities to free U.S. citizens accused of espionage, Iranian news agency IRNA reported.
Three U.S. hikers, who hold visas for Syria and Iraq, have been jailed since July when they crossed the Iranian border with Iraqi Kurdistan. Families of Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal said that they crossed the border accidentally as it is not marked properly.
It was later reported that the young Americans, all graduates of the University of California at Berkeley, were charged with spying. According to a Teheran court inspector, investigations are still ongoing.
Ebadi, a Nobel laureate, said she feels very sorry that the Iranian government has arrested these people as she knows that in that region the border is not clear.
She also thinks that even if the border was marked and one had passed the border, they could have been released by paying a fine, adding that she is surprised that hikers were kept in prison for so long.
In August, the White House demanded Iran free the young people, insisting they were tourists traveling in Iraq and crossed the border accidentally.
