Saberi To Be Freed

Hmm. I wonder what was offered up to have her sentence commuted?

An Iran court has cut jailed US-Iranian reporter Roxana Saberi's sentence to two years suspended and she will be freed later on Monday, her lawyer says.

The court heard Ms Saberi's appeal against her original eight-year prison sentence on Sunday, after an international outcry.

She will be able to leave the country, but has been banned from working as a journalist in Iran for five years.

She may want to consider becoming a domestic reporter. With her looks she'll fit right in at Fox News.

Ms Saberi was convicted of spying for the US in April but denies the charge.

The case sparked international concern and US President Barack Obama has appealed on her behalf.

Her father Reza expressed joy at the ruling and said he and his wife Akiko were on the way to collect Roxana Saberi from the jail.

Saberi to Have Sentence Commuted?

I trust little coming from Iran, so we'll see. If it happens, no doubt it will be hailed as a vistory for Mrs. Clinton's vaunted smart diplomacy.

Iran may reconsider an eight-year jail term for an American journalist during her appeal, the judiciary spokesman said Tuesday in an indication her sentence will be commuted.

The statement was the latest hint Iran could be backing off from the imprisonment of 31-year-old Roxana Saberi on charges of spying for the U.S. On Monday, the judiciary chief ordered a full investigation into the case, a day after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged Tehran's chief prosecutor to ensure Saberi be allowed a full defense during her appeal.

The case has been a source of tension with the U.S. at a time when President Barack Obama is trying to open a dialogue with Iran to end a decades-long diplomatic standoff. The U.S. has called the accusations against Saberi, a dual American-Iranian citizen, baseless and demanded her release.

How's That Smart Diplomacy Working Out?

Busy cuddling up to Communist dictators, President Obama was unavailable for comment.

Maybe somebody at the State Department would give a rat's ass if she worked for MSNBC.

AN American journalist has been jailed for eight years after an Iranian court convicted her of spying.

The trial of Roxana Saberi, 31, lasted just five days and took place behind closed doors.

Saberi, a freelance reporter for the BBC and America’s National Public Radio, was arrested in January initially for not carrying the correct press credentials. She was then accused of passing classified information to US intelligence services and taken to Tehran’s Evin jail.

The United States say the charges of espionage are baseless and have demanded her immediate release, while fellow journalists have set up an internet campaign to highlight her plight.

A former Miss North Dakota, Saberi, who has an Iranian father and Japanese mother, moved to Iran six years ago. The 31-year-old is a citizen of both the United States and Iran, but Tehran does not recognise dual nationality status.

He trial began on Monday at Iran’s Revolutionary Court, which handles security of state issues.

Today her lawyer Abdolsamad Khorramshahi said the court had already reached its verdict.

“She has been sentenced to eight years ... I will appeal,” he said.

Her father Reza Saberi, who was not allowed to attend the trial, told the NPR that his daughter was weak and frail, and had been coerced and deceived by Iranian officials into making false statements.

Curiously, no media in this country seems to care about her.

Why is that?

Why the Silence On the Fate of Roxana Saberi?

For all the media fawning and gushing over their hero Barack Obama flexing his muscles in the pirate hostage case, there's a conspicuous silence regarding Roxana Saberi, the journalist being held hostage and tried behind closed doors in Iran. Oddly enough, the media elite are also virtually silent on the fate of one of their own. I guess Saberi doesn't merit any special comments from drooling television hosts.

An American journalist jailed in Iran and charged with espionage stood trial behind closed doors and a verdict is expected within weeks, the country's judiciary spokesman said Tuesday.

Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen, was arrested in late January and initially accused of working without press credentials. But an Iranian judge leveled a far more serious allegation against her last week, charging her with spying for the United States.

"Yesterday, the first trial session was held. She presented her final defense," judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi told reporters. "The court will issue its verdict within the next two to three weeks."

The U.S. government has been pressing for Saberi's release and the charges against her and news of her swift trial were a setback—especially at a time when President Barack Obama has expressed a willingness to talk with Iran after many years of rocky relations under the former Bush administration.

Oh, the government has been pressing for her release? I must have missed the press conference where Obama's TelePrompter demanded her release. The media is busy slobbering over Obama's dog, but has little time to fret over the cause of a human being.

Meanwhile, Al Gore's employees are being held hostage in North Korea and Gore hasn't uttered a public word of concern.

I wonder if Obama sycophant Joe Klein will talk about the crisp, decisive resolution to these hostage crises?

American Reporter Detained in Iran

Maybe some of those Hollywood pinheads visiting Iran can help free this journalist.

The father of American freelance journalist Roxana Saberi says she was arrested and detained in Iran almost a month ago.

“Roxana called on February 10 to say that she had been arrested on January 31,” Reza Saberi told FOX News. “She did not say why she had been arrested or what for. She could not even say where she was when she was calling.”

Reza said he believes Roxana, who moved to Iran six years ago and had previously reported for NPR, the BBC and FOX News, had her press credentials revoked some time ago, and was therefore not working as a journalist.

"She said that she had bought a bottle of wine and the person that sold it had reported it and then they came and arrested her," he told NPR, adding that that was just an excuse to arrest her.

Reza said he believes she was writing a book about Iran.

Roxana, 31, had told her parents, who reside in Fargo, N.D., on Feb. 10 not to tell anyone about what had occurred and that she would be released within two to three days.

Saberi is a former Miss North Dakota.

Perhaps Barack Obama can wield some of his irresistible charm and get the Iranians to unclench their fist and release Ms. Saberi.