US Navy veteran Michael White sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in Iran! Likelihood of politically motivated conviction!
- Michael White, the US Navy veteran who had gone to Iran to meet his Iranian girlfriend was detained last July
- He was trialed in court and now the Iranian court has sentenced him to 10 years in prison
His family lawyer Mark Zaid suspects that the charges could be politically motivated given the deterioration in US-Iran relations after the advent of Donald Trump.
US Veteran Michael White and his arrest last year
Michael White had gone to meet his girlfriend last year. She is an Iranian and stays in the city of Mashhad.
In July 2018, Michael White was arrested. The Iranian authorities did not provide details of the charges. But they said that he was arrested for insulting their Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Additionally, he had uploaded a picture of himself with his Iranian girlfriend on social media. It is a crime in Iran to post a private photo in the public domain. Hence he was arrested on these two charges.
Michael White’s conviction and his sentence
Since the US and Iran have no diplomatic ties, the Swiss diplomats represent US interests in Iran.
They checked on Michael White and informed the US State Department about his arrest and his recent sentence. The US State Department, in turn, informed Michael’s family about it.
Michael’s family lawyer Mark Zaid told that Michael, 46 was trialed in court on 6 and 9 March 2019 and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Mark said:
“White was sentenced to two years in prison on the charge of insulting the supreme leader and 10 years for posting the photo.”
He believes that the two sentences would run concurrently. Mark also informed that Michael has 22 days to appeal the sentence.
Mark further remarked:
“It’s unclear if he’s an unfortunate foreigner caught in a different legal system or if he’s being used as a political pawn because of the bad relations between the two countries, or a combination of the two, I suppose,”
Michael’s mother worried for him
Michael’s mother, Joanne had spoken to CBS Evening News in January and expressed her concern for his health. She was worried that the Californian native’s cancer might recur. It is not known what cancer he had in the past. She said:
“I pray every day that my son Michael will be freed from prison in Iran before it’s too late.”
She added:
“I knew he wasn’t dead. I felt that in my heart. But I didn’t think he was OK,”
The Swiss diplomats who met Michael in prison report that he is in good health.”
Revealing it, Mark said:
“The Swiss came back with favorable report that he seems to be holding up well. He’s been imprisoned now since last summer. I’m not sure how open he feels he can speak with the Swiss, given his situation. I’m taking everything with a grain of salt.”
Siamak Namazi, Baquer Namazi, and Xiyue Wang are the other Americans who were arrested in Iran on charges of espionage which they deny. Robert Levinson who also is an American has been missing in Iran since the year 2007.
Source: CBS News, The Guardian
