No release yet for jailed hikers in Iran; signing judge on vacation

The second judge who is supposed to sign off on Josh and Shanes release is vacationing and will not be back until tomorrow, Tuesday.  The play is winding down and the players are ready to leave the stage.  Let's hope Tuesday will be the final curtain.  Lets also not forget that their release entailed the jizya payment of one million dollars, euphemistically called "bail" in Iran but called "shakedown money" anywhere else.  One million dollars paid to our enemy and no one says a thing.  An American life is now worth $500,000 to Islam, we have set the precedent and we will reap the whirlwind of this decision.


From AP/Yahoo September 18 by Barbara Surk

Deal to free 2 Americans jailed in Iran hits snag

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A bail-for-freedom deal for two Americans jailed as spies in Iran hit a snag Sunday because a judge whose signature is needed on the bail papers was on vacation, the prisoners' lawyer said, dashing hopes for their immediate release.

The attorney, Masoud Shafiei, said he could not complete the paperwork on the $1 million bail deal because a second judge who must sign the documents is on vacation until Tuesday. One judge already signed the papers Saturday.

"I have no choice but to wait until Tuesday," Shafiei told The Associated Press.

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 29 years old, have been jailed for more than two years in a case that has deepened the mistrust between Iran and the United States.

They were detained along the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009 with their friend Sarah Shourd. She was released last September with mediation by the Gulf nation of Oman after $500,000 was paid.

The men were convicted of spying for the United States and illegally entering Iran and were each sentenced last month to eight years in prison. They denied the charges and appealed the verdicts, opening the way for the possible deal to free them in exchange for $500,000 bail each.

They say they were just hiking in Iraq's scenic north and may have mistakenly crossed an unmarked border with Iran.

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Saturday the courts are willing to commute the Americans' sentences in the "near future" as a gesture of Islamic mercy, but did not say when the pair could be released.

Half a mil buys a lot of mercy.

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