Iran to Release US Hiker on 0,000 Bail

Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi said that Shourd, 32, who was detained in 2009 with two male companions after the group allegedly entered the country illegally, has been granted bail on health grounds on a surety of around 0,000. "The female co-defendant [Shourd] has been granted a five billion rials bail," Jafari-Dolatabadi said according to the official Press TV service. He added that the decision had been taken after "the judge confirmed Ms Shourd's illness," according to Agence France-Presse. Shourd's mother, Nora, told AFP last month that her daughter was being held in solitary confinement and denied medical treatment despite suffering from a pre-cancerous cervical condition, a lump in her breast and depression. Her lawyer, Masoud Shafii, today told CNN that Shourd could be released from Tehran's infamous Evin prison in the next day or two. She would then be free to leave the country. "Everything is in place for the release," said Shafii, who got to see the three hikers for the first time Sunday. "It's up to the family when to deliver the money." He reported that the two other hikers -- Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 28 -- were "doing well," and added that while Shourd is "happy" to be gaining her freedom, "her wish is for all three to be released together." The three Berkeley graduates were arrested on July 31, 2009, after they allegedly crossed the border from neighboring Iraq. Their families have argued that the three made a mistake as the mountainous border between the two countries is poorly marked, French lessons podcast free but Iranian officials claim that the three entered the country with "suspicious aims." Jafari-Dolatabadi said an indictment against the three Americans had been issued and that their cases were ready to be submitted to a court. There were "enough reasons to accuse the three of espionage", he said, according to the BBC. Under Iranian law, espionage is punishable by death. Sponsored Links "It has been proven that they illegally entered through the border of Kordestan [province]," Jafari-Dolatabadi said, according to the BBC. "Also the equipment and supplies they were carrying are only used for spying." The announcement of Shourd's release comes after a weekend of wrangling between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his ultra-conservative rivals in the judiciary, which is overseen by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. On Friday, the Foreign Ministry announced that Ahmadinejad had personally intervened in the case and that Shourd would be released on Saturday as a sign of the "special viewpoint of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the dignity of women." But just a few hours later, judiciary officials overruled the release, embarrassing the Iranian president. Jafari-Dolatabadi asserted the supremacy of the judiciary on Saturday, saying that an announcement about the American's case "would only come through the judiciary system."