Six Scientists Researching Cheetahs in Iran Accused of Being American Spies

[Beringia]

https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/11/22/iran-environmentalists-sentenced

(Beirut) – An Iranian revolutionary court has sentenced at least six environmental experts detained since January 2018 after an unfair trial where the defendants apparently could not see the full dossier of evidence against them, Human Rights Watch said today. The court informed the detainees on November 20, 2019 that they had been convicted of “collaborating with the enemy state of the United States” and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 4 to 10 years.

The Revolutionary Guards’ Intelligence Organization arrested seven of the defendants on January 24 and 25, 2018, as well as Kavous Seyed Emami, an Iranian-Canadian university professor. On October 24, 2018, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, said at a news conference that four detainees faced the charge of “sowing corruption on earth,” which includes the risk of the death penalty, claiming that the activists were “seeking proximity to military sites with the cover of the environmental projects and obtaining military information from them.”

On October 14, 2019, Esmaili, the judiciary spokesman, told Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) that the authorities were changing the corruption on earth charge to “collaborating with the enemy states of the US and Israel to spy in favor of CIA and MOSAD.”




A campaign poster showing environmental activists, Taher Ghadirian, Niloufar Bayani, Amirhossein Khaleghi, Houman Jokar, Sam Rajabi, Sepideh Kashani, Morad Tahbaz and Abdolreza Kouhpayeh,


https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/13505/WCS-Issues-Statement-on-the-Unjust-Sentencing-of-Innocent-Wildlife-Conservationists-Imprisoned-in-Iran.aspx

The following statement was released today by the Wildlife Conservation Society concerning the unjust sentencing of six innocent Iranian wildlife conservationists being held captive in Iran. These six conservationists face six to ten years in prison on false charges of spying; two additional innocent conservationists had not been told of their verdicts as the others were sentenced.

All eight of the conservationists have been unjustly held captive since 2018. At WCS, we are deeply saddened by this development and stand by the innocence of our fellow conservationists, all of whom had worked or were working for the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation.

These conservationists were pursuing scientific knowledge, using camera traps, the scientifically-regarded standard and best way to study elusive, shy large mammals, in efforts to save Iran’s critically endangered Asiatic cheetah.

The imprisonment and sentencing of these conservationists sends shock waves across our wildlife conservation community and across the globe. These conservationists deeply care about Iran and its people and have dedicated their lives at preserving Iran's unique natural heritage.

Nations around the world should take a stand for these eight innocent Iranian women and men, Niloufar Bayani, Taher Ghadirian, Amir Hossein Khaleghi, Houman Jowkar, Sepideh Kashani, Abdolreza Kouhpayeh, Sam Rajabi, and Morad Tahbaz. They are highly respected conservation professionals and have received great support from across the world. WCS believes these Iranian conservationists should be safeguarded and set free.

[RainCaster]

1. Where is DFT and Pompeo on this?

This is much bigger than ASAP Rocky

[Beringia]

2. I don't see them mentioned, but you would think they would make a statement

Then again, I guess the State Dept telling the Iranians "nothing here", wouldn't be believed.

[Igel]

3. Except that one involves a US citizen

and the other doesn't.

Unless we assume that "scientist" precludes "Iranian". I assume Canada made a protest over their researcher.

Otherwise, if the US protests too much, it'll be viewed as the US defending its spies. In other words, a denial is taken as confirmation. The only way to avoid something taken to mean an active confirmation is to say nothing. It's the hallmark of a biased system convinced of its own awesome self-righteousness. You can confess or just confirm your guilt by refusing to confess, either way the assumption of guilt is taken as confirmed.