Free the Berkeley Hikers

Dear Friends and Supporters,

On Sunday it will be seven months since Shane, Sarah and Josh were detained. We are all extremely aggravated and saddened that their case has not been resolved and they are still not home. However, we can't allow our frustrations to deter us from growing the movement calling for the hikers' release.

We ask that you continue to call out for the Hikers release in your community by organizing events and spreading awareness.

The Take Action section of our website has a growing set of things you can do to help Free the Hikers. One of the new items is Write Letters to Iranian Officials. We urge all supporters to take forward all of the actions on the Take Action page and encourage your friends to do the same.

We would also like to encourage you to go somewhere beautiful and take a hike for the hikers this weekend to mark seven months of their detention. If you could take a photograph of your hike and send it in to photos [at] freethehikers.org that would be great. We will put together a slideshow with the images that you send in to commemorate seven months of detention.

Some developments during the month of February include:

Visa applications, submitted on January 6, for family members to go to Iran and visit SSJ are still pending.
The mothers of the hikers wrote a public letter to Ahmadinejad asking that their visa applications be approved expeditiously and that they meet with him when they travel to Tehran.
When they came to New York to give interviews about the letter they also leafleted the UN Plaza in New York and mid-town Manhattan to spread awareness about their children.
Deputy Chief of the Judiciary (and former PhD student at UC Berkeley), Mohammad Javad Larijani, said publicly on 2/15/2010 that it is "quite possible" that SSJ entered Iran by accident and that they are to be presumed innocent.
Events have been held in each of SSJ's home states to send love and support their way.
Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called on Iran not to politicize their case and to release the hikers.
At the bottom of this email are recent news stories posted to the Freethehikers.org about these developments.

As family members hope to travel to Tehran our fundraising needs are growing. Please consider making a donation, whatever you can manage, by clicking on this link.

Thanks again for your continued support, it gives us strength to keep working towards that long awaited moment when we learn that our loved ones are finally being released.

With Love and Gratitude,

The Bauer, Shourd and Fattal families



FEB 23 | ON HIKING, BIKING AND FREEDOM NEEDLESSLY DENIED-HUFFINGTON POST

FEB 22 | FRIENDS, FAMILY GATHER AT 200-DAY MARK FOR HIKERS IMPRISONED IN IRAN-OAKLAND TRIBUNE

FEB 17 | MOTHERS OF JAILED US HIKERS SHANE BAUER AND SARAH SHOURD URGE IRAN TO RELEASE THEIR CHILDREN-DEMOCRACY NOW

FEB 16 | FAMILIES OF US ‘HIKERS' HOPE TO MEET AHMADINEJAD-AFP

FEB 16 | IRAN MULLING FAMILY VISIT FOR DETAINED AMERICANS-AP

FEB 15 | تلاش مادران سه آمریکایی برای ملاقات با احمدی نژاد-BBC PERSIAN

FEB 15 | HIKERS' MOMS PLEAD TO AHMADINEJAD IN LETTER-CNN

FEB 15 | MOMS WANT U.S. HIKERS IN IRAN FREED-CBS - EARLY SHOW

FEB 14 | FREE THE HIKERS' A FULL-TIME JOB FOR CAPTIVE'S MOTHER-PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

FEB 12 | IRAN SHOULD FREE OUR CHILDREN-SF CHRONICLE

FEB 11 | "MIO FIGLIO PRIGIONIERO IN IRAN FINITO IN UNA STORIA PIÙ GRANDE DI LUI"-LA REPUBBLICA

FEB 09 | E. VALLEY COUPLE WAITS FOR WORD ON GRANDSON JAILED IN IRAN-ABC 15

FEB 09 | EDITORIAL: PAWNS OF THE THEOCRACY-GLOBE AND MAIL

FEB 05 | MOTHERS: PLEASE RELEASE OUR CHILDREN-IRANIAN.COM

FEB 04 | IRAN SHOULD FREE THE HIKERS: THE REGIME GAINS NOTHING BY KEEPING THREE AMERICANS IMPRISONED-PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

FEB 04 | CLINTON: NO TO SWAPPING U.S. HIKERS FOR IRANIANS-CNN

FEB 02 | AHMADINEJAD REVEALS THAT THREE AMERICANS ARE HOSTAGES IN IRAN-INT'L CAMPAIGN FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAN

FEB 02 | FAMILES OF UC HIKERS DETAINED IN IRAN FIND NEW HOPE-KTVU

FEB 02 | AHMADINEJAD SAYS US HIKERS HELD IN IRAN MAY BE FREED IN SWAP-BLOOMBERG.COM

FEB 02 | MOTHERS OF DETAINED HIKERS SEEK VISAS TO IRAN TO PLEAD THEIR CASE-MERCURY NEWS

FEB 02 | RELEASE US HIKERS, URGES TUTU-IOL SOUTH AFRICAN

FEB 01 | SIX MONTHS LATER, DETAINEES' FATE IS UNCERTAIN-DAILY CAL

FEB 01 | SISTER WORKS TO FREE CAPTURED HIKER IN IRAN-CBS 4

JAN 31 | IRAN DETAINEES' PARENTS RELEASE STATEMENT-FOX 9

JAN 30 | 3 AMERICANS NOW HELD IN IRAN FOR HALF OF A YEAR-AP

JAN 27 | SOLITARY CONFINEMENT TAKING TOLL ON U.S. HIKERS IN IRAN PRISON-ABC NEWS