American Hiker Imprisoned in Iran Focus of USC Law Event, Thursday

Sarah Shourd will speak at film event at Cinema School -By Gilien Silsby Sarah Shourd, who was captured and imprisoned in Iran for 410 days while hiking in the Kurdistan region, will be on the University Park campus Thursday with the families of fellow American hikers Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, who have been detained in Iran for more than 500 days and whose espionage trial begins Feb. 6. Shourd and the families will discuss their battle for Bauer and Fattal’s release following the screening of Free Shane and Josh: An Urgent Plea for Compassion, a 25-minute documentary on their imprisonment. Sponsored by the USC Gould School of Law’s International Human Rights Clinic, the USC School of Cinematic Arts, the Center on Public Diplomacy at USC Annenberg, Amnesty International and Artists for Human Rights, the screening and panel discussion will take place at 7 p.m. at the Ray Stark Family Theatre. It is free and open to the public. The event will mark the first screening of the documentary produced and directed by Jeff Kaufman, who has produced numerous feature and television documentaries, including eight short films for Amnesty International. Hannah Garry, USC Gould professor and director of the International Human Rights Clinic, organized the effort. “This film calls attention to the tragic and unjust detention of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, who continue to be locked in a small cell 23 hours a day, denied any access to the outside world, with no explanation of why they are being held or what the future will bring,” Garry said. “It is an urgent call to action and a plea for compassion. The Human Rights Clinic is committed to supporting such efforts that bring attention to serious abuses of human rights and seek justice for the victims.” Garry, Kaufman and Philip Seib, USC professor of journalism, public diplomacy and international relations, also will serve on the panel, discussing the legal and foreign policy issues relevant to Josh and Shane’s detention. Free Shane and Josh has been featured in stories on CNN, Fox News and the Huffington Post. To RSVP for the event, e-mail Lorena Roberts at lroberts@law.usc.edu. For more information, e-mail or call Gilien Silsby at gsilsby@law.usc.edu or (213) 740-9690.