Roxana Saberi

By now you’ve surely heard about Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American reporter imprisoned in Tehran. Despite an outcry from governments, press organizations, human rights groups and individuals all around the world, Saberi remains in Iran’s notorious Evin prison, weakened in the seventh day of a hunger strike to protest her imprisonment.

If you don’t know the story, here’s the capsule version: Saberi is a U.S. citizen of Iranian and Japanese descent. She was born in New Jersey,  grew up in Fargo, is a former Miss North Dakota, and has a masters in journalism from Northwestern. She’s been living in Iran for six years, studying for a masters degree in Iranian studies, and reporting for NPR, the BBC, ABC News and other international news organizations. She planned to return to the U.S. this year, after finishing a book about Iranian culture.

Saberi was arrested at the end of January and has been held in Evin prison ever since. Ten days after she was arrested, she was allowed a brief phone call to her parents. She told her father she had been detained for purchasing a bottle of wine. Subsequently, Iranian officials accused her of illegal reporting activities, saying she continued her work as a reporter after her press credentials were revoked in 2006.

On March 9, after her parents had not heard from her for nearly a month, Saberi’s family attorney was finally allowed to visit her in Evin prison. In early March, the U.S. State Department took the unusual step, through Swiss intermediaries, of asking the Iranian government to clarify Saberi’s status. The U. S. has had no diplomatic relations with Iran since 1980 when Iranian students occupied the U.S. Embassy and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Despite U.S. government inquiries, the Iranian government continued to hold Saberi without any clarification of her status and without formal charges for another month. Because Saberi’s father is Iranian, Iran’s government, which doesn’t acknowledge dual citizenship, considers Saberi an Iranian citizen and has stated that the United States must not seek to interfere with it’s internal affairs.

Finally, on April 5, after being imprisoned for more than two months, Saberi was charged by Iran’s judiciary. The Iranian news agency ISNA reported that Saberi had been charged with espionage and quoted Iranian officials as saying that she had “accepted” the charges. “She had been carrying out espionage activities … under the cover of a journalist … and she has accepted the accusations,” ISNA quoted judge Haddad as saying.

On April 18, after a closed, one-day trial, Saberi was convicted of espionage and sentenced to eight years in prison.

By all accounts of people who have known and worked with her, Roxana Saberi is a journalist, not a spy. President Obama has stated that he is concerned for Saberi’s safety, urges the Iranian government to free her and is confident that Saberi is not a spy. The U.S. State Department has confirmed that the espionage charges against Saberi are baseless and continues its diplomatic efforts to gain her release through the intervention of the Swiss and Japanese governments. Meanwhile, American and international news agencies and organizations have joined to assert her innocence, protest her detention, and petition for her release. Among the organizations advocating for Saberi are Amnesty International, The International Press Institute,  the Overseas Press Club of America, the Society of Professional Journalists, the International Women’s Media Foundation, and Reporters Without Borders. Mirek Topolanek, the President of the European Union has also petitioned Iran to release Saberi.  And Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman to receive the  Nobel Peace Prize, has joined Saberi’s defense for an appeal which will be presented before an Iranian appeals court.

On Sunday, Saberi turned 32. The previous Tuesday, she started a hunger strike which is now in it’s seventh day. And while even Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, wrote a letter to Tehran’s top prosecutor urging him to ensure that Saberi’s right to defend herself is not violated, Saberi’s attorneys have continued to be denied access to see her. With Iran’s Foreign Ministry pressing the U.S. to release five Iranians arrested by U.S. forces in Kurdistan in 2007, and with Iranian elections coming up in June, it appears more and more that Saberi is a pawn in a very intense game of international political maneuvering.

So with all of these forces at work in her case, what can you do to help Roxana Saberi?

1. You can let Saberi know that she is not alone and promise her that she won’t be forgotten. As Joel Simon, the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, explained to the editors of the New York Times, political prisoners experience profound feelings of isolation and helplessness. “Roxana Saberi has now been in one of Iran’s most notorious prisons for nearly three months… In order to withstand her ordeal, she needs to know that there are thousands of people, journalists and average citizens, who are aware of her fate, who are concerned for her welfare and who will stand with her and her family.” You can help Roxana Saberi survive her prison ordeal by writing to her here or here.
2. Now to make good on your promise that Saberi won’t be forgotten, make sure that people in important places don’t forget about her either. Start by sending a letter to Iran’s Ambassador to the U.N. asking the Iranian government to release Saberi.
3. Next, send a letter or email to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei.
4. Send an email expressing your concern about Saberi’s case to Iran’s judiciary at info@dadiran.ir .
5. Sign this petition urging Iranian authorities to release Saberi.
6. Sign this one, too.
7. Join the Free Roxana Saberi Facebook group to stay up-to-date with new ways that take action to help Saberi. Invite your friends to join, too.
8. Follow @freeroxana on Twitter to get the latest updates and re-tweet them to all of your friends.
9. Visit the Committe to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, and the International Press Institute to find out more about how you can join their work to safeguard press freedom. All three of these organizations are working to secure Roxana Saberi’s release.
10. Finally, spend a little bit of time each day bringing attention to Saberi’s case. Send this post and other links to your friends and family and networks, Tweet about Saberi, blog about her, send letters to your local newspapers, and do whatever else you can to create noise about Saberi’s case. The more attention, the more pressure on Iran, the sooner Roxana Saberi will be released.

(Photo credit: Eustacio Humphrey / ZUMA Press)

Tags:   Iran · Press Freedom · Roxana Saberi