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U.S.-IRANIAN REPORTER ON TRIAL, VERDICT EXPECTED SOON
By Hossein Jaseb and Fredrik Dahl
Ottawa Citizen
April 14 2009
Canada
TEHRAN - An Iranian-American journalist has gone on trial in Iran
for spying for the United States and a verdict is expected soon,
the judiciary said on Tuesday.
Washington says the charges against Roxana Saberi, who has reported
for the BBC, National Public Radio and other media, are baseless and
has demanded her immediate release.
Saberi's case coincides with talk of a possible thaw in U.S.-Iranian
ties after new U.S. President Barack Obama offered a new beginning
of engagement if Tehran "unclenches its fist."
Judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi told a news conference her
trial started on Monday in a Revolutionary Court, which handles state
security matters.
"I think the verdict will be announced soon, perhaps in the next
two or three weeks," he said. "Her charge was spying for foreigners
. . . She had spied for the United States."
Under Iran's penal code, espionage can carry the death penalty. The
Islamic Republic last year executed an Iranian businessman convicted
of spying on the military for Israel.
Saberi, 31, is a citizen of both the United States and Iran but
Tehran does not recognize dual nationality. It announced the espionage
charges against her last week.
Jamshidi said Saberi, a freelance reporter who was born in the United
States, had submitted the last defence arguments on her case. She
was arrested in late January for working in Iran after her press
credentials had expired.
The United States said the charges against Saberi were "baseless and
without foundation."
Jamshidi said: "Giving an opinion on a case, by an individual or a
government, without being informed about the facts in it, is utterly
ridiculous."
Saberi's lawyer was not available for comment on Tuesday.
Her parents visited her in Tehran's Evin jail on April 6, after
arriving from the United States. Evin is a jail where rights groups
say political prisoners are usually taken.
Washington cut ties with Iran shortly after the Islamic revolution
in 1979 but Obama's administration is trying to reach out to Tehran
following three decades of mutual mistrust.
Iran says it wants to see a real switch in Washington's policies
away from those of former President George W. Bush, who led a drive
to isolate the country because of nuclear work the West suspects has
military aims, a charge Iran denies.
On Monday, Iran said it would welcome dialogue with six world powers,
including the United States, which had invited Iran to a meeting on
the long-running nuclear row.
In another case that has caused concern in the West, Jamshidi said
a higher court had upheld a three-year jail sentence against Silva
Harotonian.
A diplomatic source said Harotonian was an Iranian citizen who worked
for a U.S.-based non-governmental organization in Armenia and was
detained while visiting Iran in 2008.
She was accused of involvement in a U.S.-funded plot to overthrow its
Islamic system of government, along with two Iranian doctors who were
jailed for three and six years respectively.
Iran often accuses the West of seeking to undermine the Islamic state
through a "soft" or "velvet revolution" with the help of intellectuals
and others inside the country.
Diplomats and human rights groups say Iran has cracked down on
dissenting voices since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power
in 2005, possibly in response to Western pressure on Tehran to halt
its disputed nuclear work.
By Hossein Jaseb and Fredrik Dahl
Ottawa Citizen
April 14 2009
Canada
TEHRAN - An Iranian-American journalist has gone on trial in Iran
for spying for the United States and a verdict is expected soon,
the judiciary said on Tuesday.
Washington says the charges against Roxana Saberi, who has reported
for the BBC, National Public Radio and other media, are baseless and
has demanded her immediate release.
Saberi's case coincides with talk of a possible thaw in U.S.-Iranian
ties after new U.S. President Barack Obama offered a new beginning
of engagement if Tehran "unclenches its fist."
Judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi told a news conference her
trial started on Monday in a Revolutionary Court, which handles state
security matters.
"I think the verdict will be announced soon, perhaps in the next
two or three weeks," he said. "Her charge was spying for foreigners
. . . She had spied for the United States."
Under Iran's penal code, espionage can carry the death penalty. The
Islamic Republic last year executed an Iranian businessman convicted
of spying on the military for Israel.
Saberi, 31, is a citizen of both the United States and Iran but
Tehran does not recognize dual nationality. It announced the espionage
charges against her last week.
Jamshidi said Saberi, a freelance reporter who was born in the United
States, had submitted the last defence arguments on her case. She
was arrested in late January for working in Iran after her press
credentials had expired.
The United States said the charges against Saberi were "baseless and
without foundation."
Jamshidi said: "Giving an opinion on a case, by an individual or a
government, without being informed about the facts in it, is utterly
ridiculous."
Saberi's lawyer was not available for comment on Tuesday.
Her parents visited her in Tehran's Evin jail on April 6, after
arriving from the United States. Evin is a jail where rights groups
say political prisoners are usually taken.
Washington cut ties with Iran shortly after the Islamic revolution
in 1979 but Obama's administration is trying to reach out to Tehran
following three decades of mutual mistrust.
Iran says it wants to see a real switch in Washington's policies
away from those of former President George W. Bush, who led a drive
to isolate the country because of nuclear work the West suspects has
military aims, a charge Iran denies.
On Monday, Iran said it would welcome dialogue with six world powers,
including the United States, which had invited Iran to a meeting on
the long-running nuclear row.
In another case that has caused concern in the West, Jamshidi said
a higher court had upheld a three-year jail sentence against Silva
Harotonian.
A diplomatic source said Harotonian was an Iranian citizen who worked
for a U.S.-based non-governmental organization in Armenia and was
detained while visiting Iran in 2008.
She was accused of involvement in a U.S.-funded plot to overthrow its
Islamic system of government, along with two Iranian doctors who were
jailed for three and six years respectively.
Iran often accuses the West of seeking to undermine the Islamic state
through a "soft" or "velvet revolution" with the help of intellectuals
and others inside the country.
Diplomats and human rights groups say Iran has cracked down on
dissenting voices since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power
in 2005, possibly in response to Western pressure on Tehran to halt
its disputed nuclear work.