Moms of Hikers Held in Iran: 'Stop Playing Games With Our Kids'
Mothers of three American hikers respond to interview with Iranian president.
May 6, 2010 — -- The mothers of the three American hikers who have been held in Iran since July today made a public plea to Iranian officials to set politics aside and release their children.
"The two countries are at odds with each other and we don't want this mixed in with that," Cindy Hickey, mother of Shane Bauer, said on "Good Morning America."
The three Americans, Bauer, 27; Sarah Shourd, 31; and Josh Fattal, 27; were detained by Iranian officials July 31, 2009. They were reportedly hiking on a trail that winds along the unmarked Iran-Iraq border.
They have not yet been charged with a crime and have not been allowed to seek legal representation.
In an interview Tuesday with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos the Iranian President said it was up to a judge to decide whether the hikers' claim that they simply got lost was the truth as they would have to plead their case to him.
"They have to provide proof and evidence to the judge in Iran that shows that they lost their way or made a mistake," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said. "When the time comes, they will have a lawyer."
Ahmadinejad said he would make a recommendation to the judge to "render maximum cooperation" in regards to the case, but said he had no influence over the judge. The mothers disagreed.
"Stop playing games with our kids….it just needs to end," Nora Shourd said.
"This stuff about 'it is in the hands of the judiciary' is just ridiculous. After nine months the kids haven't been interrogated, there is no reason for it to be delayed any longer," Hickey said on "GMA."
The three mothers were in New York in hopes of meeting with Ahmadinejad when he came to the U.S. this week to speak to the U.N. at the conference on nuclear non-proliferation.
They never heard back about their request, but if the women had a chance to speak to the Iranian president they would have told him that their children are merely innocent hikers.
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