U.S. Navy veteran detained in Iran gets 10 years in prison, lawyer says

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - A U.S. Navy veteran has been sentenced to 10 years in an Iranian prison, his family’s lawyer said, after he was arrested last July while visiting an Iranian woman in the city of Mashhad.

Michael White, 46, was convicted of two charges, insulting the country’s top leader and posting a private photograph publicly, in separate hearings on March 6 and March 9, according to the lawyer, Mark Zaid.

The basis for the first charge is not yet clear. The second charge appears to have been leveled after White uploaded a picture of himself sitting with the woman, an Iranian national, Zaid said.

Iranian authorities have not released details of the charges. The U.S. State Department said it was aware of White’s detention, but added that it could not provide additional information because of “privacy considerations.”

-snip-

WORLD NEWS MARCH 16, 2019 / 1:59 PM / UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO
Joseph Ax
3 MIN READ


Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-usa-white/u-s-navy-veteran-detained-in-iran-gets-10-years-in-prison-lawyer-says-idUSKCN1QX0KV

[mr_lebowski]

1. Ummm ... really? This story stretches credibility a little ... if true, REALLY dumb move by Iran(nt)

[Eugene]

2. The rational actors aren't fully in charge there.

The hardliners run the judiciary and the intelligence services. It is all to common for a foreigner to become a pawn in their internal power struggles.

[rampartc]

4. dumb move by iran?

don't you think this was a dumb move by the dumb american.

1. maybe he was a spy, but in that case his cover story was dumb (see point 2)

2. if he was visiting a girl friend in iran, well, they wear hajib, they have arranged marriages, they are honor killed by their own family for speaking to men etc etc etc.

[mr_lebowski]

5. They're not mutually exclusive :)

Also, sounds like you're thinking all of Iran is like rural Afghanistan ... it's not THAT bad in the cities from what I understand. Yes Hijab is required but I don't think all marriages are arranged there.

Would've been a lot smarter to try to get her over here somehow, that's for sure.

I do think this is not smart of Iran because it's going to piss off Trump and Bolton even more. Hell, it pisses ME off. They should've just expelled him and told him never to return. These 'crimes' are a joke. 10 years in Iranian Prison for THAT?

I think the US SHOULD raise a stink over this and demand his immediate return.

[littlemissmartypants]

3. No worries.

Pres-tidigitation will just snap his tiny fingers and "presto" on his way home Michael White will be.


Just in case: