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IRAN: FORMER MARINE ESCAPES DEATH PENALTY AFTER SENTENCE IS SECRETLY REDUCED TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON
April 12, 2014: A former Marine incarcerated in Iran in 2011 and sentenced to death on espionage charges was secretly retried and given a 10-year prison term, his new lawyer said.
Amir Hekmati has escaped death by being convicted of a new crime - practical collaboration with the American government - by a revolutionary court in December, after being caught working for the CIA.
The lawyer, Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei, also said his client had never been informed about the retrial, conviction or sentence, according to The New York Times.
Tabatabaei - who is well-connected to Iran's highest leaders - said he learned of the information in discussions with judiciary officials.
He then called Hekmati - who is incarcerated in Tehran’s Evin prison - and Hekmati’s family members in Flint, Michigan, who have long fought for his freedom.
The Times reported the news is the first status update of Hekmati's case in over two years.
Hekmati, 30, an American of Iranian descent who had been visiting relatives in Tehran for the first time when he was arrested more than two and a half years ago, has repeatedly asserted his innocence.
American officials say they have raised the issue in all encounters with members of the Iranian government.
But as of Friday (April 11), neither Hekmati nor his lawyer had received any written confirmation of the December conviction or sentence — not an uncommon occurrence in Iran’s legal system, which has been criticized by rights groups and the United Nations for what they call its secret, arbitrary and extrajudicial procedures.
However Tabatabaei has expressed confidence about the accuracy of the information. (Sources: dailymail.co.uk, 12/04/2014)
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