by Chris Bodenner
On the heels of news that the regime is set to try three American hikers for espionage, this news is particularly troubling:
The case against the Iranian-American social scientist Kian Tajbakhsh contains no evidence to 
support the allegations against him, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, following interviews with Masoud Shafie, Tajbakhsh’s lawyer. Tajbakhsh has been sentenced to a 15-year prison term for alleged espionage and actions against national security by a lower court and is currently in the appeals stage. The case has also been substantially invalidated by gross breaches of Iranian law and international standards for due process. [...] Espionage is closely defined under Iranian law, and guilt needs to be established by evidence that highly confidential documents were passed to foreign governments. There are no references to such documents in the file.
Tajbakhsh, a renowned scholar and urban planner, was the only US citizen included in the mass show trials that followed the post-election unrest. More information about the man here. A heartbreaking interview with his mother here.