1,000TH DAY IN PRISON NEARING, MARINE ASKS RETRIAL
DETROIT (AP) A former U.S. Marine who has spent almost 1,000 days in an Iranian prison after being accused of working for the CIA will appeal for a new trial after already seeing his sentence reduced once, an Iranian news agency reported Sunday.
Amir Hekmati, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen born in Arizona and raised in Michigan, was arrested in August 2011 on his first-ever visit to his parents' homeland, then tried, convicted and sentenced to death for spying.
However, Iran's Supreme Court annulled the death sentence after Hekmati appealed, ordering a retrial in 2012. The country's Revolutionary Court then overturned his conviction for espionage, instead charging him with "cooperating with hostile governments" and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
The anniversary of his detention falls on Monday, which is Memorial Day, and the U.S. congressman representing the Hekmati family renewed his call for the 31-year-old's release Sunday....
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