UPDATE! Hope and Action
Free
We hope that you have heard the good news that Shane, Sarah and Josh
were allowed to call home (please see the press release below). We
were overjoyed that after seven and half months we were finally able
to hear their voices and hope that it means that soon enough we will
be able to give them a hug and welcome them home.
Shane, Sarah and Josh’s spirits seemed good and they were sure to let
us know that they are staying strong. That strength comes from the
collective efforts of the thousands of people across the world who are
pulling for them and doing everything they can to ensure they get home
soon. Your efforts, voice and support have been critical and we ask
that you continue to be active and do what you can to make sure the
hikers are home for the Nowruz, the Iranian New Year.
We ask that you please forward an e-card to the Iranian Mission of the
United Nations, ir...@un.int, and ask your friends to do the same. The
Iranian New Year is a celebration of the coming of spring and its
regeneration. Iranians come together as families and we hope that our
families will be able to be together too.
THE E-CARD AND EMAIL ADDRESS ARE AVAILABLE ON OUR HOMEPAGE:
http://freethehikers.org/
**Please download the beautiful e-card and attach it to your email**
Again, thank you for all of your help and support. If you haven’t
worked you way through the various actions on the Take Action section
of our website we encourage you to do that too. Every little bit
helps!
In Gratitude,
The Bauer, Shourd and Fattal families
PRESS RELEASE:
March 10, 2010
AMERICAN HIKERS DETAINED IN IRAN ARE ALLOWED
TO CALL HOME FOR FIRST TIME IN MORE THAN SEVEN MONTHS
Families Welcome Positive Sign; Hope Loved Ones Will be Released for
Iranian
New Year.
Iranian authorities have allowed Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh
Fattal to speak to their
parents by telephone for the first time since they were detained more
than seven months ago.
The families of the three Americans said they had received the calls
from their loved ones on
Tuesday. “It was a tremendous relief to hear their voices at last and
know that Shane, Sarah and Josh are
keeping well and staying strong. They still don’t have any details
about their case but they are
aware of some of what we and others are doing to speed their release,”
the families said. “We
believe the calls are a positive signal that their long detention may
soon be over after these
many months of anguish and uncertainty. As families throughout Iran
prepare to celebrate the
festival of Nowruz, the start of the Iranian New Year, we appeal to
the Iranian authorities to
show compassion and allow our families to be reunited in joy and
happiness as well.”
According to the families, Shane and Josh, both 27, are being held in
the same cell in Evin
Prison in Tehran. Sarah, 31, is alone in her cell but is able to meet
with Shane and Josh every
day.
The three friends were detained on July 31, 2009 when news reports say
they accidentally
strayed across the unmarked border with Iran while hiking in the
mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan,
where they were on a brief vacation. Their mothers, Cindy Hickey, Nora
Shourd and Laura
Fattal, applied for visas on January 6 to visit them in prison but
have still not been informed
whether they will be allowed to enter Iran. Their Iranian lawyer,
Masoud Shafii, continues to
press for access to his clients.
“We would like to thank Mr. Shafii for his persistent efforts on
behalf of Shane, Sarah and Josh
and his repeated requests to the Iranian authorities to allow them to
telephone us. These phone
calls make us long to embrace them even more. They have been held for
far too long and it’s
time for them to come home,” the families said.