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Jailed American journalist in Iran sentenced to eight years in prison

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Saturday, April 18, 2009

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Roxana Saberi, 31, an Iranian-American journalist who was accused of spying on Iran, has been sentenced to eight years in prison. This marks the first time that an Iranian court has convicted and sentenced a journalist who they accused of spying.

"The eight-year sentence is true. I will appeal the verdict," said Abdul-Samad, Saberi's attorney. Saberi could have been sentenced the maximum of 10 years in prison, under Iranian law. The court did not allow Saberi's lawyer to ask for bail.

Saberi was originally arrested then charged for purchasing alcoholic beverages and reporting without the proper media credentials. During the trial, Iranian officials accused her of spying and sending information to U.S. intelligence agencies overseas. According to Iran's national media, Saberi admitted to spying.

"It's normal for somebody who has violated our law to be sentenced. It has nothing to do with [international] bargaining chips or with President Obama. [...] I do hope her case will be soon over, but Iran has its own national interests, and issues such as nuclear technology are sensitive and some countries are trying to undermine our interests through someone posing as a journalist," said a former spokesman for Hesbollah in Iran.

The U.S. condemns the arrest and sentence calling the charges against Saberi "baseless and without foundation." They call for Saberi's immediate release.

Saberi was working for BBC News and National Public Radio (NPR) which is located in Washington, D.C.. She was arrested two months ago, but according to NPR, Saberi has been in custody for three months.


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  This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

The text of this article is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License


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