Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American journalist imprisoned in
Iran, walked out of Tehran’s Evin prison May 11 after an appeals court
reduced her eight-year jail sentence for espionage to a two-year
suspended term.
TEHERAN: Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American journalist imprisoned in Iran, walked out of Tehran’s Evin prison May 11 after an appeals court reduced her eight-year jail sentence for espionage to a two-year suspended term. Outside the prison, she was reunited with her parents, Reza and Akiko Saberi of Fargo, North Dakota, who came to Teheran from their home in Fargo, North Dakota after her arrest.
Saberi, a U.S. citizen turned 32 while in jail. She was arrested in January after breaking Iran’s anti-booze law by buying a bottle of wine. She was charged with reporting after her press card was revoked and later charged with spying for the United States. On April 15, she was convicted on the spying charge. She went on a hunger strike for two weeks while in jail but ended it because of health problems. Roxana, Miss North Dakota in 1997 and a Miss America finalist, reported for National Public Radio, BBC, Fox News and Feature Story News while living in Teheran since 2003.
After Saberi was sentenced, Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, wrote a letter urging the court to be fair in reviewing her case. In a dispatch from Teheran, New York Times correspondents Nazila Fathi and Mark Landler wrote, “American officials said Iran’s handling of the Saberi case underlined a deepening divide within its leadership about how to respond to President Obama’s recent overtures. It also reflects domestic politics a month before Mr. Ahmadinejad faces a critical election… . ‘Mr. Ahmadinejad wants to take serious steps toward improving ties with the United States before the elections,’ said Ibrahim Yazdi, a political analyst in Teheran.”