>>>
thank you.
iran
has handed down the sentence against two american men who said they accidentally hike under to the country.
iran
accused them of being spies and as punishment they were sentenced to eight years in prison. ali is in
tehran
. good morning.
>>
good morning,
jenna
. that's right,
tehran
's chief prosecutor confirmed this morning the sentences for fattal and
bauer
and the court was considering all of its options including trying her. the sentences were announced by
iran
state-run media.
tehran
's chief prosecutor accuse accusaccu announced this morning eight years
prison sentence
for josh fattal and shane
bauer
for entering the country illegally. they were arrested a little over two years ago along the
iran
/iraq border. they denied they were spies, saying they were hiking and crossed into
iran
by mistake. sarah shourd was released on bail last september. she flew back to the u.s. and never returned to
iran
to face trial.
>>
this could be the final --
>> reporter:
she recently spoke with
lester holt
expressing hopes that her friends would soon be released.
>>
that's what we're praying for. the time for compassion has finally come.
>> reporter:
before sentencing, many thought
bauer
and fattal would be freed with
time served
and a yesture of islamic compassion. now friends are concerned about the toll a long prison term would take.
>>
it's unclear what that game is and it has to be very tough.
>> reporter:
the case has highlighted differences among the ruling elite in japan. it was only two weeks ago that
iran
's foreign minister said he hoped
bauer
and fattal would be free. the
u.s. state department
issued a statement, "we continue to express our hope that the iranian authorities would exercise the humanitarian of releasing these two young men." continue its backdoor diplomacy to free
bauer
and fattal. at this point a mew manitarian option may be the only hope for these two americans.
jenna
, experts i have spoken to and conventioned wisdom seem to suggest that they will be free, but relations between these two countries is terrible and
iran
is not in the business of doing the u.s. any favors. if they're not freed in the next two weeks, they could be here for a long time.
jenna
?
>>
ali, thank you.
>>>
here to give us some insight on the iranian legal system and what the sentencing means is karen desoto. good morning.
>>
good morning.
>>
the iranian ambassador to iraq and the
iranian foreign minister
said they fully expect these men to be free and saturday comes and they're sentenced to eight years in prison. what happened there?
>>
we went from all the top officials saying, hey, it looks like they're going to be freed and then we get this eight-year sentence. but it's a little too soon to panic because we know in recent cases. in fact,
iranian american
in
2009
was let go. she was a free llance journalist and she was sentenced for eight years on the same thing and was let go during the appeals process. we have not gotten to the appeals process yet. but the disturbing part is there was a trial. america does not have a consulate. we have to rely on the swiss to be our protectors in those and, of course, our minister, the swiss minister went over there and went over to the trial and was not let into the court. some more disturbing reports is that the attorney for the defendants was not allowed to talk to them. and he was hopeful that prior to the trial that he would get an hour or two to speak to them. that's a pretty huge
red flag
there.
>>
that must have really hurt their case, also, when you don't even have any communication with your attorney the whole time that you're in prison.
>>
well, of course, you know, americans would say that the fix is in, but the problem is, it's very difficult for the families to speak out because nobody wants to be disrespectful and it's very nice to talk about defendants' rights. when someone is literally holding a gun to your children's head, you want to be respectful and walk on egg shells and hope that maybe they will let them free and they're not going to be used as a political chip.
>>
without that communication with their attorney, is a lot of this he said/he said as far as the evidence against these two young men.
>>
the attorney reviewed the case and no evidence of criminal acts, however, we don't know, you know, what was put on the record. we still don't know what the spying evidence is. so, are they, of course the families are saying most experts are saying that this is really just they're being used as a political chip and, therefore, they're going to be used nuclear arms and as some type of bargaining chip for talks and
iraqi soldiers
and
iran
soldiers and the treatment of the soldiers. so, this is just a whole
political agenda
at this point.
>>
lots to come in the coming days and weeks. karen, thank you so much for your insight, as always.
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