Iranian Physics Student From UT Gets 10 Years In Jail For Spying

scibri writes "Omid Kokabee, a laser physics graduate student from the University of Texas who has been imprisoned in Tehran for the past 15 months, was sentenced to 10 years in jail on Sunday for allegedly conspiring with foreign countries against Iran. Kokabee was arrested in February 2011 while on a trip home, and charged with 'communicating with a hostile government' (i.e. Israel) and 'illegal earnings.' He has consistently denied the charges, and refused to speak at his trial, where no evidence against him was presented. Several international science groups, including the American Physical Society, have spoken up in his defense, and an online petition has been set up in support."

Comments

Nothing new here

[s.petry]

Sadly, this is a very common theme with the Iranian Government. Usually this is to get the person on board with them. They get out when they are on-board, and often family members are jailed to be sure that they stay on-board.

As long as crap is in power, crap like this happens. How many brilliant people did Stalin and Hitler kill? So many that we have no way of knowing.

Re:Nothing new here

[Bigby]

It sounds like the trial-less imprisonment here in the US. He's a "terrorist" and doesn't deserve a (fair) trial.

Re:Nothing new here

[garcia]

Agreed. Except the part about the trial having no evidence presented.

Re:Nothing new here

[artor3]

I was wondering how long it would be before some sheltered fool claimed America was just as bad.

Re:Nothing new here

[crazyjj]

This is so far away from the US that it's laughable

Agreed. In the U.S. he'd never get a trial.

Re:Nothing new here

[Anonymous Coward]

In the US you don't need evidence either. The government can simply tell the courts hey its a national security issue trust us. And that's it. The poor guy gets to rot in prison for undetermined time for completely made up charges.
Now in Europe on the other hand the courts can't judge you based on non disclosed evidence. Precisely to avoid the arbitrariness that underlies the modern US judicial system. Funny to think that european citizens are more protected from their govenments than US citenzens are from theirs.

Re:Nothing new here

[DoofusOfDeath]

I believe you're mistaken in calling the parent a "sheltered fool".

We've suspended Habeus Corpus for anyone branded a terrorist. We've suspended the 4th Amendment any time the NSA wants to wiretap all phone traffic. We torture people. We have secret evidence in trials, which defense attorneys can't see. And National Security Letters can make it a crime to even talk about what the government is up to, even if it's illegal.

So we have a government capable of *exactly* what Iran did to this guy.

And if you're arguing that America isn't as bad because we don't to it as often, there are two points to be made. First, Bigby never talked about how the relative frequency of this kind of trial in the U.S. vs. Iran; just that the U.S. has done these things at least once in recent history. Secondly, given that our our handling of alleged terrorism is secret, none of us has real information on how often the U.S. conducts "trials" of the sort Iran did with this guy.

Re:Nothing new here

[DeadCatX2]

What's the difference between a trial with no evidence, and a trial with classified evidence that the defense is not allowed to see or contest?

What's the difference if you're held in prison for "indefinite detention", and you have never been charged, and you cannot file a habeas corpus petition to determine if the government even has any evidence to justify imprisoning you? At least in this case, there was a trial. That's more than some folks at Gitmo get.

Re:Nothing new here

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Here, the entire "plot" is woven, whole cloth by the "investigative" agency. Dupes are recruited from the targeted population to execute the plot, under the continuous supervision and motivation by agency operatives. Ultimately, the "plotters" are intercepted for their stage-managed arrest and exposure.

In Iran? Well, they first apprehend someone who has a detectable pattern of contact with hostile, foreign governments and provable omissions in record and testimony.

After that? They are both foregone conclusions.

Re:Nothing new here

[girlintraining]

Before you say "but but but but" I'll ask you to volunteer for the Military and go see for yourself.

Couldn't. Gay. Curiously, people who chant "death to america!" are a bit more accepting regarding military service, though it usually ends with a bang.

Watch a few of your friends die and get hit by a bullet or two.

I didn't have to serve in the military to see that. I've been shot myself... twice.

Lets see how you react when you capture someone and they spit in your face and tell you they will hunt down your whole family and kill them.

I can't say I ever captured someone, but I've had people spit in my face and tell me they will hunt down my whole family and kill them. Again, gay. Also, small town.

Try helping out someone asking for help and watching them kill a few innocents, and then yell "he did it!".

Okay, at this point, I have to ask... what the fuck are you getting at? Is your justification here that two wrongs make a right? That it's okay to kill people, as long as it's for the right reasons? Collateral damage? Where are you going with this... or are you just rattling off the many inhumane things human beings are capable of when told by an authority to do them?

We torture and kill innocent people; and it's not just foreigners, it's our own citizens. Our fear mongering leaders want show trials for their re-election so badly they throw people to the wolves. The FBI is busy manufacturing terrorists just so they can claim credit for taking them down. And you're acting like we shouldn't be ashamed? That we should just accept it? Are you truly that jaded?

But in a war, when you have your ass on the line 24/7/365 and you watch people die..

You don't kill others to protect your way of life, only to come home and kill more people who's crime is living that way of life.

There are countless Occupy people that have been arrested and detained without bail or trial for weeks.

Yes, I know. I was there. And no bail or trial for a couple weeks is not the same thing as never having a trial, being disappeared, having the government deny your family, friends, or anyone access to you, never seeing a lawyer, permanently. That's what we've legalized in the past few years; and it goes against everything we have sent generations of young men overseas to die for.

We should be ashamed.

Re:Nothing new here

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow. When did slashdot become full of loonies who believe in crazy conspiracy theories to try to make it look like Iran is just as bad as the USA? Stuff like this is one of the reasons I visit slashdot less and less. I think this will be my last post. The USA just as bad of a police state as Iran? What a joke!

Banality of evil

[Anonymous Coward]

The great evils in history generally, and the Holocaust in particular, were not executed by fanatics or sociopaths, but by ordinary people who accepted the premises of their state and therefore participated with the view that their actions were normal.

Re:Is Iran crazy?

[Anonymous Coward]

Go ask a nuclear physicist (I am actually one) if lasers have an application in some of the more difficult to solve problems in making nuclear weapons. You may be surprised by the answer.

Brain Drain in Iran

[eldavojohn]

Iran is desperate to plug that hole, but frankly they're heavily outmatched and being sanctioned and sabotaged every step of the way.

If you're imposing strict social codes with ridiculously harsh laws while trying to compete with super powers, you're going to have a bad time.

It's true the USSR and US played a big part in turning Iran into the screw up it is today but at some point the people have gotta turn it around if they don't want to end up completely like North Korea. Smart people don't want to live in places where smart people are bothered and executed. Smart people also can't be told where to live -- they're smart and they figure out ways around that.

If you escape, do not return.

[couchslug]

That simple. Iranians (well, except the MEK) aren't dedicated enough for a protracted violent struggle, so their government will remain as it is.

The Viet Minh and later Viet Cong were willing to die, by the hundreds of thousands, to take power in their country. The Taliban have demonstrated the same will to fight over decades.

Either be willing to fight as a revolutionary or get the fuck out before Serious People eat you. The Mullonazis are Serious People. If you aren't willing to slaughter them, you don't really oppose them.

Always happens quick

[Sycraft-fu]

There are a lot of very narcissistic people on Slashdot and any discussion that isn't about America they seem to need to find a way to redirect it to the US as soon as they can. I can never be a discussion about civil rights in another nation, they have to try and steer the debate right back around to America so they can do more whining and make more things about themselves.

It is extremely annoying, and precisely as expected for this site.

Re:Always happens quick

[Internetuser1248]

It sounds like the trial-less imprisonment here in the US. He's a "terrorist" and doesn't deserve a (fair) trial.

It sounds like the trial-less imprisonment here in Russia. He's a "terrorist" and doesn't deserve a (fair) trial.

It sounds like the trial-less imprisonment here in China. He's a "terrorist" and doesn't deserve a (fair) trial.

It sounds like the trial-less imprisonment here in the DRC. He's a "terrorist" and doesn't deserve a (fair) trial.

It sounds like the trial-less imprisonment here in Indonesia. He's a "terrorist" and doesn't deserve a (fair) trial.

It sounds like the trial-less imprisonment here in Syria. He's a "terrorist" and doesn't deserve a (fair) trial.

It sounds like the trial-less imprisonment here in North Korea. He's a "terrorist" and doesn't deserve a (fair) trial.

Is that more to your liking? If so, I agree. The US isn't the only state that is in flagrant breach of basic human rights. It isn't even the only democracy who the world media pretends is a good guy that is in flagrant breach of basic human rights. Most of the users on this site are from there though, you can't blame people for caring more about local news. US people: don't worry your country is not the only one who is responsible for unconscionable acts of cruelty, aggression and injustice. Everyone else: don't forget to point out the crimes of all nations, the US is just one. In a way you could say that as colonists the UK are actually responsible for everything the US has done, but that would be stupid, the UK has more than enough crimes to answer for.

Re:Queue "But the US..." comment in 3... 2... 1...

[Dave Emami]

Umm... no. I'm pointing out that when the US gets accused of something bad, the comments are about the US, and when some other country is accused of something bad, the comments are... about the US. There were several privacy or "Your Rights Online" posts dealing specifically with the US within the last week. Did the comments immediately stray into discussion of Iran? No, nor should they have. Same thing goes here. There's a person -- a tech guy, one of our own -- getting stomped on. How about some sympathy for him? Likewise with the discussion of Saeed Malekpour a few months ago: a programmer is at risk of being executed because of source code sharing (something rather dear to the hearts of a lot of people on Slashdot), and a major chunk of the comments are "but in the US etc. etc."