U.S. imprisoned Iranian engineer secretly for two years before sentencing
In a case drawing criticism from outside lawyers, an Iranian engineer sentenced to prison Monday for violating arms control laws was lured to the nation of Georgia by American authorities for a fake arms deal, arrested, extradited to the U.S., and held in prison for two years — including months in solitary confinement before his guilty plea last year — all totally in secret, according to the Justice Department and media reports.
Export control lawyers told Politico’s Laura Rozen the politically-charged case of Amir Hossein Ardebili — which was under seal until this month — is troubling for two reasons: first, he was an Iranian who never left Iran, nonetheless lured out of the country and targeted by U.S. law enforcement; and, second, that he was sentenced after two years of secret imprisonment.
The Justice Department says the case was kept under seal for so long to protect ongoing investigations based on information obtained in the Ardebili probe. [continued…]
