US court rejects request for temporary release of Iranian accused of espionage
A judge in Washington on Tuesday, August 20, denied a request for the temporary release of Majid Ghorbani, a 59-year-old Iranian citizen accused of spying for Iran.
Yesterday, the US Department of Justice announced that Ahmadreza Mohammadi Doostdar, a 38-year-old dual Iranian-American citizen, and Majid Ghorbani, a 59-year-old Iranian citizen, have been arrested on charges of "spying" for Tehran in the United States, including spying on a Jewish center and gathering information from supporters of the People's Mojahedin (MEK).
In the first hearing of Majid Ghorbani's trial, presided over by Michael Harvey, the prosecutor requested 75 years in prison for the defendant.
Reports indicate that the defendant's lawyer asked the presiding judge to agree to his temporary release until the trial, given that his client's family lives in the United States.
However, Judge Michael Harvey opposed the request for Majid Ghorbani's temporary release, saying that because he is accused of spying for another country, he cannot agree to the defendant's temporary release.
Another defendant in this case is Ahmadreza Mohammadi Doostdar, who is scheduled to be tried in a court in Chicago.
According to a statement from the Department of Justice yesterday, the charges against the two were filed by John Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security Affairs, Jesse K. Liu, Attorney General for the District of Columbia (Washington), and Michael McGarity, Director of National Security for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The Ministry of Justice statement states: Majid Ghorbani, who attended the People's Mojahedin rally in New York on September 20, 2017, took photos of the rally and provided them to Ahmad Reza Doostdar, who received $2,000 in return.
The lawsuit against the two men states that Mr. Doostdar traveled to California in December to obtain this information from Mr. Ghorbani.
The statement added that Majid Ghorbani had also participated in the People's Mojahedin-e Khalq conference titled "Iran Freedom Convention, for Human Rights and Democracy" in May of this year in Washington, and 10 days later, Ahmadreza Mohammadi Doostdar contacted him and discussed how he received the collected information.
Mr. Ghorbani is accused of being tasked with infiltrating the People's Mojahedin Organization. The lawsuit states that he traveled to Iran in March and April of this year and provided information to the Islamic Republic's authorities.
Ahmadreza Mohammadi Doostdar is also accused of having monitored an Orthodox Jewish center called the Chabad Rohar House in Chicago in 2017 and taking photographs of the building's security features.
However, Ahmadreza Mohammadi Doostdar's lawyer told ABC 7 News yesterday: "The accusations against Mr. Doostdar are politically motivated and have been raised on the eve of the US President's new approach against Iran."
In this regard, the Chicago Moron newspaper has reported that Ahmad Reza Mohammadi Doostdar's brother is an assistant professor of Islamic studies at the University of Chicago.
Previously, in 2013, Mansour Arbabsir, an Iranian-American who had pleaded guilty in a New York court to conspiracy to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States, was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Source: Radio Farda
