Shourd, 32, said she had been diagnosed with severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Returning to Iran could exacerbate her problems, she said.
The court in Tehran has insisted that Shourd return for the trial set for May 11 with her fiancé Shane Bauer and their friend Josh Fattal, both of whom remain imprisoned. She said she and their families have heard nothing from the men for more than five months. The court has suggested it might just postpone this week’s trial session if she does not return—thereby leaving Bauer and Fattal sitting in a cell even longer.
“I can’t go back for the trial,” she told Agence France Presse (AFP) in an interview in Washington. She was freed on bail in September after 14 months in prison.
“There is a part of me that would like to go back and stand by Shane and Josh at this most difficult time. But, really, I’m afraid it would be too traumatic for me to go back after what I’ve been through in Iran,” she said.
The three hikers are charged with espionage and illegal entry.
Shourd said she has sent the Revolutionary Court a five-page evaluation of her by clinical forensic psychologist Barry Rosenfeld. He concluded she is at high risk of renewed or even worse psychological problems if she returns to Iran to stand trial.
Shourd had developed a major depressive disorder during her incarceration and needs “aggressive mental health treatment,” concluded Rosenfeld.
But Shourd voiced concern for the well being of Bauer—to whom she became engaged during their incarceration—and Fattal. “I was there for 14 months; they’ve now been there for over 21 months, which is far longer and I’m sure that the extreme isolation they’re under has taken its toll,” she said. The US hostages seized in 1979 were held for just over 14 months.
“I worry about their safety, I worry about their mental health. We’ve had no information from them, no contact, phone call, nothing for over five months…. What I’ve heard is that they now have only 40 minutes out of their cell every day. They don’t see any other human beings and they still haven’t been allowed a private meeting with their lawyer.”
The families of Bauer and Fattal, both 28, said in a statement they fully supported Shourd’s decision, but hoped the men would be released soon. “The charges they face are as cynical, unjust and unreasonable as the length of their incarceration. It is time for the Iranian judicial authorities to stop playing games with their lives,” the statement said.
Cindy Hickey, Bauer’s mother, added, “Our sons are innocent and we’re innocent too, but Iran is making all of us pay a terrible price for nothing. We want this over and we want it over now.”
Fattal’s mother, Laura Fattal, said: “When Sarah left jail, Josh told her they were all one-third free. “We hoped Iran would show Josh and Shane the same compassion. But here we are more than seven months later and the Iranian authorities are still holding our sons. We know from Sarah’s experience that they will bear the mental scars of this senseless ordeal for a long time to come.”
The first session of the men’s trial was held February 6. Their local lawyer, Masud Shafii, has said that no evidence in support of the espionage trial was offered in that session. He has also said there is no requirement under Iranian law for Shourd to return before the trial can continue. He has said the two men can easily be tried separately from Shourd under Iranian law.
The three, all graduates of the University of California at Berkeley, were hiking near a tourist resort in Iraqi Kurdistan when they were detained by Iranian border forces on July 31, 2009.
Boxing great Mohammad Ali and musician Yusuf Islam, both converts to Islam, have both written Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi pleading that the two men be released and saying there is no evidence they committed any crimes. Their letters have not been answered. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a South African Anglican, issued a statement over the weekend saying, “There is no evidence to support the charges against them” and calling their continued detention “morally unacceptable.”