Iranian Verdict Close on EU Fishermen who Strayed

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Monsters and Critics:

An Iranian court is likely to hand down a verdict within a week on a pair of German and French deep-sea fishermen who strayed into Iranian territorial waters six weeks ago, the German Foreign Office in Berlin said Friday. German tradesman Donald Klein, 52, and a French boat-owner identified only as Stephane set out from Dubai for a day's fishing in the Gulf on November 29 and ended up under arrest after going too far. READ MORE

The German government confirmed an announcement by Karin Klein, 51, who has not seen her husband since November, that the verdict was likely to be sent to Klein's Iranian lawyer within seven days. The trial took place Thursday and lasted six hours, a spokesman said.

Mrs. Klein told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa from her home in Lambsheim, a suburb of the German city of Ludwigshafen: 'They expect that my husband will be released with just a fine.'

German officials declined comment on that.

She said she was told her husband was 'fairly well' and had kept perfectly calm at the trial, telling the court that he had only chartered the boat to go fishing with.

Earlier this week, the German Foreign Office said it had arranged for an Iranian lawyer with experience in similar cases to represent the German at the trial in the port city of Bandar Abbas.

Klein, who was taking a holiday from his small business as a stonemason and sculptor, is a keen fisherman fascinated by the fish of the Gulf. He struck up a friendship with Stephane on an earlier visit to Dubai and chartered the launch from him in November.

His wife says the Frenchman radioed his own wife that the boat had engine trouble, apparently close to the island of Abu-Mussa, which is an Iranian military no-go area. The two men were then arrested.

Sources have told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that Iranian law provides for penalties of up to three years in jail or a fine for illegal entry.

On Tuesday, Iranian Justice Minister Jamal Karimi-Rad said the legal procedures against the two were 'in accord with laws of Iran', adding: 'We must wait for a review of the results of the questioning. After that we can disclose the further outcome.'

The Foreign Office said Klein had been calm as the trial approached. Diplomats said his conditions of custody were impeccable, as both men were in detention at a private home, not in a jail.