Two American hikers who have been jailed in Iran for 2 years on espionage charges will likely be freed “in a couple of days,” President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a recent interview with NBC’s Ann Curry. An attorney for Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer said officials set the men’s bail at $500,000 a piece. They will be released from Evin prison in Tehran after their bail is paid.
Fattal, Bauer and their friend Sarah Shourd were arrested in July 2009 while hiking in Iraq’s Kurdish region near the Iranian border. They were accused of espionage and illegal entry into Iran after apparently crossing the border. The trio claims they entered Iran by mistake after being waved over by a soldier.
Shourd was released from custody last September after posting $500,000 bail. Fattal and Bauer were sentenced to 8 years in prison last month when a court found them guilty of espionage and illegal entry.
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