pastradamus
18th April 2009, 15:34
From Google News:
TEHRAN, April 18 A revolutionary court has sentenced an Iranian-American journalist,Roxana Saberi, to eight years in prison after convicting her of spying for the United States, her lawyer said Saturday.
Ill definitely appeal the verdict, her lawyer Abdolsamad Khoramshahi told the Associated Press.
The United States has called the charges against Ms. Saberi baseless and demanded her release.
The sentence comes after Washington has made overtures to Iran about starting a dialogue over its nuclear program. The State Department said on Thursday that Ms. Saberis jailing was not helpful and that Iran would gain good will from the United States if it responded in a positive way to the case, AP reported.
Ms. Saberi, 31, was arrested in late January on the much lighter charge of buying alcohol. The foreign ministry said later that she was accused of working as a reporter without press credentials, but the prosecutors office said this month that she was put on trial for spying . She is held in the countrys notorious Evin prison in Tehran.
She has lived in Iran for six years and has worked for National public Radio(NPR) and the BBC. Authorities revoked her press card in 2006.
The verdict came after an unusually swift trial, which started last Monday. . Ms. Saberi was tried behind closed doors.
In a statement released Saturday, Vivian Schiller, the president and CEO of NPR, said We are deeply distressed by this harsh and unwarranted sentence.
She also said that we know her as an established and respected professional journalist.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/world/middleeast/19iran.html
TEHRAN, April 18 A revolutionary court has sentenced an Iranian-American journalist,Roxana Saberi, to eight years in prison after convicting her of spying for the United States, her lawyer said Saturday.
Ill definitely appeal the verdict, her lawyer Abdolsamad Khoramshahi told the Associated Press.
The United States has called the charges against Ms. Saberi baseless and demanded her release.
The sentence comes after Washington has made overtures to Iran about starting a dialogue over its nuclear program. The State Department said on Thursday that Ms. Saberis jailing was not helpful and that Iran would gain good will from the United States if it responded in a positive way to the case, AP reported.
Ms. Saberi, 31, was arrested in late January on the much lighter charge of buying alcohol. The foreign ministry said later that she was accused of working as a reporter without press credentials, but the prosecutors office said this month that she was put on trial for spying . She is held in the countrys notorious Evin prison in Tehran.
She has lived in Iran for six years and has worked for National public Radio(NPR) and the BBC. Authorities revoked her press card in 2006.
The verdict came after an unusually swift trial, which started last Monday. . Ms. Saberi was tried behind closed doors.
In a statement released Saturday, Vivian Schiller, the president and CEO of NPR, said We are deeply distressed by this harsh and unwarranted sentence.
She also said that we know her as an established and respected professional journalist.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/world/middleeast/19iran.html