Iran Orders Appeal for U.S. Reporter in Spying Case
By Thomas Penny and Henry Meyer
Bloomberg
Excerpt: April 20, 2009 -- Iran’s judiciary ordered an immediate appeal for American-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi, who was jailed for eight years for espionage.
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahrudi, head of the judiciary, issued the order today in a statement cited by the state-run Iranian Students News Agency. The appeal must be heard “fairly and quickly,” he was quoted as saying.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad intervened yesterday in the case, saying in a letter to Tehran’s prosecutor that the 31- year-old reporter should be given “justice,” including the right to defend herself.
Analysts say the Iranian authorities appear to be anxious to defuse a potential conflict with the U.S. sparked by the conviction. The Obama administration, which is making efforts to ease the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program and end a 30-year diplomatic freeze, has condemned the journalist’s treatment.
“We believe that she was wrongly accused and wrongly convicted,” Robert Gibbs, White House press secretary, said during a briefing today, according to a transcript.
Saberi, who holds both U.S. and Iranian citizenship, was convicted of spying last week after a closed trial. She had reported from Iran for National Public Radio, the British Broadcasting Corp. and Fox News.Sphere: Related Content
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While the mainstream media and even so many clueless conservatives moan about Iran's arrest and conviction of BBC/NPR "reporter" Roxana Saberi, you'll hear no tears from me. Ditto for the two reporters detained in North Korea, including execrable Oprah "reporter" Lisa Ling's sister.
I couldn't care less that the Iranian apologist Saberi is a dual American-Iranian citizen or that she was a Miss America contestant. The "American" part of this woman long ago died, but has suddenly rebirthed itself, now that the government for which she cheerled, actually turned out to be the way she pretended it wasn't.
Roxana Saberi made her career as an apologist for Iran in her gushing reports for BBC, NPR (National Public Radio a/k/a National "Palestinian" Radio), and other media outlets for whom she freelanced over how "liberal" the country is. One of those pandering reports, ironically, was from a soccer match, where others of her gender are not allowed to attend and are sent to jail when they do. But not her. She was privileged in Iran and used that privilege as a platform to be a blatant sop. But she used her privileged position to promote the country endlessly and unapologetically. And now that she's been arrested and tried, it's poetic justice at its finest.
While Ms. Saberi could travel to and from Iran at will, hundreds of Iranian Jews are still not allowed to leave. When one of them does leave, his/her family members are held hostage by the government of Iran, until they return. Instead of covering things like this, Ms. Saberi painted a picture of Iran as Candyland, where everything's coming up lollipops and gum drops. Even her father, Reza Saberti of Fargo, acknowledged, she's "only used her position to promote this country [Iran]. For this woman, I'm supposed to be concerned? Whatever she gets, she deserves. Maybe her story will teach other far-left reporters that apologizing for Iran won't protect you, even in Iran.