Iran says US journalist tried behind closed doors

Iran says US journalist tried behind closed doors

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A jailed American journalist charged by Iran with espionage stood trial behind closed doors and a verdict is expected within weeks, Iran'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.

The U.S. government has been pressing for Saberi's release and the charges against her and news of her swift trial was 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.

Judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi said Saberi was tried Monday in Iran's Revolutionary Court, which handles national security cases. It was unclear why the trial was moving at such a fast pace — especially because the charges leveled against her were so serious.

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

Her parents, who traveled to Iran in a bid to help win their daughter's release, and her lawyer could not immediately be reached Tuesday for comment.

Saberi, who grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, has been living in Iran for the last six years, working as a freelance reporter for organizations including National Public Radio and the British Broadcasting Corp.

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I have to say that I actually have not been following this case so I don't know a lot about it.

The article says that she had been living in Iran for 6 months as a freelance journalist and that is probably the basis for their jailing her...

That being said I also have to wonder about her religious beliefs... after all she is an Iranian-American and many of them here these days are Baha'i's who have fled Iran in the face of the governments continued prosecution of them which includes arresting prominent Baha'i's... expelling Baha'i' students from schools and forbidding them an education, digging up their cemeteries and destroying their holy sites.

This whole case probably doesn't have anything to do with the Baha'i's of Iran... but then again it may.

I hope they come to their senses and just expel her.

www.google.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

3 things:

1. Iran is not going to kill, torture or otherwise wrongfully harm this woman. That would be political suicide, and would play right into the hands of American Foreign Policy right now. The 15 British Royal Navy sailors held for 2 weeks by Iran after drifting into their waters were treated absolutely by the book according to Geneva and released without a peep and even said to the press they were never interrogated, tortured or so much as questioned. See here.

2. You can't deny America hasn't been conducting covert Intelligence gathering operations in Iran. CIA Agents frequently pose as journalists, it's the perfect cover for people who want to travel everywhere without raising eyebrows and carry cameras with them. In addition to this America's covert action within Iran has becoming progressively more violent (supporting Iranian terrorist groups): see here, here, here, and here.

3. Ms. Saberi's account of why she had no valid press credentials and chose to stay in Iran after being told by the Iranian government her visa would be revoked, makes for some interesting conclusions to say the least. Being an Iranian and well versed in Iranian laws and customs as well being an experienced field journalist, why she chose to stay in Iran, after being effectively kicked out, in my mind doesn't make sense. I mean if you want to defy the immigration laws of another country and illegally stay there, you take your chances, but don't be surprised if you're taken to court.

[edit on 14/4/09 by The Godfather of Conspira]

Like I said I really have not been following this case so I don't know all the details but I did think it was newsworthy... and I do know that we have our dirty little fingers in all sorts of dirty little pies over there and it wouldn't surprise me one iota if this was one of them... but then again maybe not.

Just to update this today,

Iran are saying they are going to free the jailed US journalist Roxana Saberi...