Saturday, April 4, 2009

Roxana's Parents in Iran


Roxana Saberi's parents are scheduled to arrive in Tehran this weekend as they continue efforts to have their daughter released from an Iranian prison.

From the LATimes:

An Iranian judiciary official told reporters a month ago that Saberi would be released in days.

U.S. officials said they handed Iranians a letter on the sidelines of a conference Tuesday in the Netherlands requesting the release of Saberi, Iranian American student Esha Momeni and former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who disappeared during a trip to Iran two years ago. Iran's Foreign Ministry has denied the receipt of such a letter.

Iranian officials said Saberi was arrested after continuing to work as a journalist even though her official credentials had been revoked. She told her father she was detained after buying a bottle of wine, illegal but generally tolerated in the Islamic Republic.

But the length and nature of her detention suggests she may be facing more serious security charges. A judiciary official said last month that she was arrested because of unspecified "illegal activities" on a warrant issued by Iran's Revolutionary Court, which frequently tries cases of espionage and national security.


Let's hope that progress is made here and that Roxana Saberi, Levinson, and Momeni are soon freed as well as the two journalists currently being held in North Korea.

Related posts here and here.

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