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Tuesday 18 July 2017

Jordan: American scholar jailed in Iran

Soldier gets life term for killing 3 US troops is innocent, his professor says

By ADAM SCHRECK It alleged he scanned
By REEM SAAD Sgt. Kevin J. McEnroe, 30, waited at the gate to the Associated Press some 4,500 pages of digi-
OMAR AKOUR of Tucson, Arizona; and al-Jafr base in southern Jor- DUBAI, United Arab Emir- tal documents, paid thou-
Associated Press Staff Sgt. James F. Moriarty, dan. ates (AP) — A Chinese- sands of dollars to access
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — 27, of Kerrville, Texas. Jordan initially said the American graduate stu- archives he needed and
A Jordanian soldier was During the monthlong trial, Americans triggered the dent at Princeton sen- sought access to confi-
sentenced Monday to life he watched the proceed- shooting by disobeying en- tenced to 10 years in dential areas of Tehran
in prison after being con- ings silently while standing try rules, a claim that was prison in Iran for allegedly libraries.
victed of killing three U.S. in a cage in the courtroom. later withdrawn. “infiltrating” the country He was arrested while
military trainers last year, He did not react Mon- The trial “confirmed that and sending confiden- conducting research on
but some said questions day when the judge an- the deceased U.S. service tial material abroad is the Qajar dynasty that
lingered about his motive nounced the verdict and members followed all es- innocent of all charges once ruled Iran for his
for the shooting at a Jorda- the maximum possible tablished procedures when against him, his professor doctorate in late 19th
nian air base. sentence, life in prison with accessing the base the said Monday. and early 20th century
Jordan has ruled out terror- hard labor. day of the incident, as we Xiyue Wang’s arrest, Eurasian history, accord-
ism in the November shoot- When he was led out of the have noted before,” the which happened nearly ing to Princeton.
ing in which the convoy of cage, he said: “I have all U.S. Embassy in Jordan said. a year ago, only came to He was expecting to con-
the U.S. Army Green Be- the respect for the king, but “We are reassured to see light Sunday when Iran’s tinue his research in Rus-
judiciary announced his sia and needed to get as
sentence and the deten- much work done in Iran
tion of President Hassan as he could before taking
Rouhani’s brother in an up a fellowship there, Kot-
unrelated case. kin said.
Princeton said that it is That included scanning
“very distressed” by the large volumes of docu-
charges leveled against ments that he could ac-
Wang while he was carry- cess later — something
ing out scholarly research Kotkin described as “nor-
in the Islamic Republic. mal, standard scholarly
It has been working with practice.” The docu-
Wang’s family, the U.S. ments he accessed were
government, lawyers roughly 100 years old, the
and others to secure his professor said.
release, it said, adding “We saw nothing out of
that it hopes he will be re- the ordinary on anything
leased on appeal. that he undertook or
“Xiyue Wang is a remark- did,” Kotkin said. “He’s a
able, linguistically gifted graduate student in good
graduate student,” Princ- standing.”
eton University professor A photo on Princeton’s
Stephen Kotkin, who has history department web-
A military court convenes in the case of a Jordanian soldier accused of shooting to death three served as Wang’s doctor- site shows Wang posing
U.S. military trainers at the gate of an air base, in Amman, Jordan, Monday. July 17, 2017. The al adviser, told The Associ- under a plaque at the
defendant had pleaded “not guilty,” saying he opened fire because he feared the base was
coming under attack. He was sentenced Monday to life in prison with hard labor. ated Press. entrance of China’s offi-
(AP Photo/Omar Akour) “He is innocent of all the cial Xinhua News Agency
charges.” bureau in Kabul, Afghani-
rets came under fire at the I was doing my job.” the perpetrator brought to An article posted on stan.
base entrance. Relatives of two of the U.S. justice.” Mizan Online, a website A short bio on the Princ-
The defendant has said he soldiers sat quietly as the Jordan is a member of a affiliated with Iran’s ju- eton in Asia website said
felt no animosity toward judge read the ruling. U.S.-led coalition fighting diciary, said 37-year-old Wang had been a fellow
Americans and opened fire Charles Lewellen, 53, Islamic State group extrem- Wang was born in Beijing in Hong Kong in 2008-
because he believed the whose son was killed, later ists in neighboring Syria and and is a dual national of 2009, had completed
base was coming under at- told The Associated Press Iraq. the United States and a bachelor’s degree in
tack. that the verdict “won’t Jordan hosts troops, includ- China. South Asian studies at the
However, relatives of the take the pain away,” but ing trainers, from the U.S. He has already filed an University of Washington
slain U.S. troops have de- that it proved “what we and other countries as part appeal to his sentence, and did Russian and Eur-
scribed security camera have been saying all along of the anti-IS battle. according to the website. asian studies at Harvard.
footage that they say ... that he murdered our “We are pleased to see Wang was arrested on In addition to Mandarin
shows him shooting for six sons.” that the perpetrators have Aug. 8, 2016 and is ac- and English, Wang was
minutes, reloading and Some of the relatives criti- been brought to justice,” cused of passing confi- able to communicate in
aiming at the Americans, cized Jordan’s handling said U.S. Navy Capt. Jeff dential information about Persian, Turkish and Pa-
even as they identify them- of the case and said the Davis, a Pentagon spokes- Iran to the U.S. State De- shto, and had worked as
selves as friendly forces. defendant should have re- man. He said the U.S. re- partment, Princeton’s a Pashto translator in Af-
After a “not guilty” plea, ceived the death penalty. spects Jordan’s military Sharmin and Bijan Moss- ghanistan, Kotkin said. It
the Jordanian soldier, 1st Jordan allows the death process and praised Jor- avar-Rahmani Center for was his first trip to Iran.
Sgt. Marik al-Tuwayha, was penalty, but it is usually dan for adhering to its own Iran and Persian Gulf Stud- “He is unbelievably com-
tried by a military court in handed down in terrorism laws in resolving the case ies, the Harvard Kennedy mitted to the life of the
Jordan’s capital of Amman cases or in a murder cou- expeditiously. School and the British In- mind,” Kotkin said. “You
for the killings of Staff Sgt. pled with another crime. Davis wouldn’t comment stitute of Persian Studies, have to hand it to this guy,
Matthew C. Lewellen, 27, The Americans were killed on possible motives for the Mizan Online said. this kind of ambition.”q
of Kirksville, Missouri; Staff Nov. 4, as their convoy killing.q