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Iran releases jailed American journalist Roxana Saberi

Jailed US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi has been freed from Iran's notorious Evin prison and is soon expected to leave with her parents and travel to the US to her home in Fargo, North Dakota, reports Michael Ireland, chief correspondent, ASSIST News Service.

The move came after an Iranian appeals court, which met Sunday for a five-hour session, decided to release Saberi upon hearing arguments from her lawyer that she was not an American spy, a charge for which she was serving an eight-year sentence. He argued that she could not possibly be a US spy because the US and Iran are not at war.

The judges, in a closed-door hearing, agreed with Saberi's lawyers and said she should be released, that her sentence would be suspended for two years, that she could stay in the country if she wished, but that she would be banned from reporting from Iran for five years.

The 32-year-old Saberi, a former Miss North Dakota and Miss USA finalist, who graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, with a degree in French and communications, and holds Masters degrees in broadcasting and International Relations form Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, has been reporting from Iran for international media outlets such as the British Broadcasting Corporation, National Public Radio and FOX News.

Saberi has been in Iran since 2003 working on a book about Iranian culture. She was arrested and jailed in January apparently for purchasing alcohol, which is illegal in Iran. She was then charged with working as a journalist with expired press credentials, which was then followed by the spying charges.

In an e-mail to ASSIST News, Catherine McMullen, Associate Professor, English/Journalism at Concordia College, who was one of Saberi's teachers, said: "I am tremendously relieved and joyous that she will soon be home."

John Strand, a Midwestern journalist who a week ago organized a non-political 'Free Roxana Saberi Hometown Vigil' in her hometown of Fargo, North Dakota, told ASSIST News: "My primary concern is for Roxanne's personal well being and health, and her freedom.

"That the Iranian government has acquiesced so as to allow her to leave the country is great news. Roxana's support at home continues and we celebrate this breakthrough."

Following the release of Iranian-American journalist, Roxana Saberi from Evin prison, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW)is urgently calling for the discharge of two female Christian converts from Islam still being held there without charge.

Maryam Rostampour, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, were arrested by Iranian security officers on March 5, 2009 after their apartment was searched and their Bibles confiscated amongst other items.

CSW says that neither of the women have committed a crime as defined under Iranian or international law.

CSW’s Advocacy Director Tina Lambert said: "CSW warmly welcomes today’s news of Roxana Saberi’s release, but remains deeply concerned for the safety of Maryam and Marzieh.

"CSW believes both women are detained primarily because of their religious convictions. We urgently ask that the Iranian Government show the same prudence they expressed in releasing Ms. Saberi by allowing these innocent Christian women to go free."

Iran was ranked 166th out of 173 countries in the latest Reporters Without Borders press freedom index. A wave of arrests on May 1 brought the total number of journalists and bloggers currently held in Iran to 14. Three of them are women. Reporters Without Borders actively campaigned for Saberi's release.

Joel Simon, executive director of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, which also worked for Saberi's release, said in a statement: "We are thrilled that Roxana Saberi has been released from prison and look forward to welcoming her home.

"But this is also a moment to reflect on the difficult conditions that Iranian journalists endure every day. Several Iranian journalists remain jailed today. We urge they be given the same opportunity for judicial review that was afforded to Roxana Saberi."

At least five journalists were imprisoned in Iran when CPJ conducted its annual census on December 1, 2008.

Two other female American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, are currently being held in North Korea and are awaiting trial on unspecified charges.

The Associated Press reported April 24 that a dispatch from the country said the pair would be tried for "confirmed charges" without specifying the nature of those charges or a timetable for the legal proceedings.

"The relevant agencies of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have concluded the investigation of the U.S. journalists," Bloomberg reported the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying. "They decided to formally bring them to trial, based on their documented crimes."

"We are extremely concerned that Laura Ling and Euna Lee are to be tried on criminal charges for working as journalists," said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. "We urge the North Korean authorities to reconsider this decision and release them immediately."

News reports said North Korean guards detained Ling and Lee, who work for California-based Current TV, near the country's border with China on March 17. They had been reporting on North Korean immigrants in China.

KCNA said last month that the two had been arrested on charges of illegally entering the country with the intent to commit "hostile acts," according to CNN.

According to Agence France-Presse, (AFP), State Department acting spokesman Robert Wood told reporters: "We continue to call on the North Koreans to release the two Americans so they can be returned to their families,"

CSW is a human rights organization which specializes in religious freedom, works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and promotes religious liberty for all.

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TAGS: Iran US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi Miss North Dakota John Strand

[05/12/2009]

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