LOS ANGELES (AP) An immigration appeals board ruled that four Iranian brothers who were jailed for nearly three years for supporting an alleged terrorist organization are not a danger to national security and cannot be deported to their home country.
The Mirmehdi brothers Mohammed, Mostafa, Mohsen and Mojtaba were arrested in October 2001 following an FBI investigation into a Los Angeles-based cell of the Moujahedeen Khalq, or MEK, which opposes Iran's regime.
The FBI claimed informants indicated the Mirmehdi brothers associated with the MEK. Although the four admitted attending protests against the Iranian government that were allegedly sponsored by the MEK, they denied ever belonging to the group.
Evidence tying the Mirmehdis to terrorism was inconclusive, the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals ruled Tuesday.
``Collectively, 12 years of their lives have been wasted because they've been locked up,'' said their attorney, Stacy Tolchin. ``Their lives have been ruined over nothing. This shows that the government's war on terrorism has been transformed into a war against civil liberties and free speech.''
The board upheld the decisions of two immigration judges who said the Mirmehdis would be persecuted if returned to Iran, but at the same time the panel agreed with the government that they did not qualify for political asylum, because they lied on their applications for asylum in 1999.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is considering whether the Mirmehdis should be released on bail while their immigration case is being argued.
Tolchin said the ruling means the Mirmehdis could legally be freed from custody within 90 days. She said she will attempt to negotiate an agreement with Homeland Security Department officials for their release.
A spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Washington, said the agency, part of the Homeland Security Department, will instead try to find a third country that will accept the Mirmehdis.
``The ruling doesn't mean that they will be released; only that we cannot return them to Iran. We have a 90-day removal period to find an alternate country that will accept them,'' Van Pelt said.
The Mirmehdis attended MEK political rallies before it was identified as a terrorist group. The government has been trying to deport them since 1999, when they falsely stated they had entered the country legally. But immigration judges blocked their deportations on grounds that they would be tortured if forced to return to Iran.
The four brothers, who previously worked as real estate agents in the San Fernando Valley, requested their release on bond but were turned down in January 2002.
An appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals in June 2002 was also rejected because the brothers allegedly ``associated with a terrorist organization and pose a danger to persons or property.''
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