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Four Detainees Released

by TChris

After more than three years in detention, four Iranian brothers were released last night, subject to a requirement that they obtain permission to travel outside of three California counties.

The brothers have been held since October 2001. Federal authorities alleged they supported a Los Angeles-based cell of the Moujahedeen Khalk, or MEK, which opposes Iran's regime and is classified by the State Department as a terrorist organization. The brothers acknowledged attending protest events against Iran's current regime, but denied belonging to the MEK.

They never faced criminal charges. They were sent into detention to await deportation for allegedly lying in the 1990s on their applications seeking political asylum, and for their suspected ties to the MEK. Last August, the Board of Immigration Appeals ruled evidence tying the brothers to terrorism was inconclusive. The board also upheld the decision of two immigration judges who said the Mirmehdis would be tortured or persecuted if returned to Iran.

Two of the brothers have been ordered deported, but the government has found no country willing to accept them. The other brothers are appealing similar orders.

The brothers' release occurred less than two weeks after an altercation in which the Mirmehdis allege that a guard beat Mohammed Mirmehdi after he intervened in an argument between the guard and one of his brothers.

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    Re: Four Detainees Released (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 09:42:04 AM EST
    Help me out here four Terrorists are being released and asked not to leave California. This is getting wackier and wackier. Can't they just pick up the phone and call Osama? Can you hear me now?

    Re: Four Detainees Released (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 09:54:01 AM EST
    I see no proof that they are terrorists in this article. According to the article they never faced charges. Or are they automatically terrorists because they're Iranian?

    Re: Four Detainees Released (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 10:17:48 AM EST
    I was being snarkie.

    Re: Four Detainees Released (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 11:37:55 AM EST
    So if the two stand against iran both are enemies of the USA? isn't that insane or what? didn't someone say iran is an enemy of the USA? didn't bush call iran a terror state? and both were hold for 3 years without charges? when both were let into the U.S., for political asylum? can someone tell me if bush isn't insane and our government isn't nuts? this story must be a setup, it can be telling the facts, but i think it is the truth and that shows me the war or terrorists is just like the war on drugs, game over.

    Re: Four Detainees Released (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 11:46:40 AM EST
    The point is not if they had the power or even could have the power they did not have the power knew they did not have the power and used a specific tool illegally to intimadate people they were investiating. The Chief should resign and if not be fired. But it's okay because it was the cable company????

    Re: Four Detainees Released (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 11:47:48 AM EST
    my above comment is in the wrong thread I had a dyslexic moment sorry.

    Re: Four Detainees Released (none / 0) (#7)
    by Jlvngstn on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 12:27:23 PM EST
    "...........with liberty and justice for all. (unless we decide otherwise)."

    Re: Four Detainees Released (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 12:32:17 PM EST
    I guess that now we have to distinguish between "good" terrorists and the odinary "bad" kind. Which are these if they are against the current Iranian regime?

    Re: Four Detainees Released (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 02:54:28 PM EST
    However, it is difficult to tell from the article because it is not aimed at educated people.
    so you read it?
    ...too vague to be of legal use?
    answered.

    Re: Four Detainees Released (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 04:15:42 PM EST
    March 17, people must do the real reseach and if you do, god help you when your eyes open to the fact of our government, and its real plans for us all.

    Re: Four Detainees Released (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 05:52:39 PM EST
    Wait a minute. "MEK, which opposes Iran's regime and is classified by the State Department as a terrorist organization" Which, we never the less, support, or rather think of as an ally. Hell, cynically use, because it's expediant at the moment. That MEK? .

    Re: Four Detainees Released (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 18, 2005 at 05:47:39 AM EST
    agave - It is perfectly possible for a group to be an enemy of the regime in Iran and an enemy of the US at the same time.

    Re: Four Detainees Released (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 18, 2005 at 06:56:58 AM EST
    Hey can we say...1984.

    Re: Four Detainees Released (none / 0) (#14)
    by kdog on Fri Mar 18, 2005 at 07:55:23 AM EST
    Don't you just love it when the gov't holds some guys in jail for 3 freakin years for next to nothing.