In an effort to put pressure on the Iranian government to free the three American hikers who accidently crossed over the Iranian border six months ago, the “Free the Hikers” group continues to collect petition videos as the 200th day approaches, according to the YouTube Blog Citizen Tube. Led by Alex Fattal, brother of one of the three hikers, the “Free the Hikers” group has collected more than three dozen videos from people around the world including Nobel Prize winner Desmond Tutu.
Hikers Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal have been detained in Iran since July 31, 2009 for, according to their families, accidently crossing an unmarked border while hiking the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan. Although Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week suggested a swap of Iranians in the U.S. prisons for the three American hikers, BBC News reports that Secretary of State Hilary Clinton rejected the proposal saying that, “We believe they [the Iranian government] should unilaterally release our detained citizens.”
To join the important cause and create your own video to be shared on YouTube, please visit freethehikders.org.