Saturday, April 18, 2009

IRAN SENTENCES AMERICAN JOURNALIST TO 8 YEARS IN PRISON

A Revolutionary court has sentenced  Iranian-American journalist, Roxana Saberi, to eight years in prison after convicting her of spying for the United States.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement that she was "deeply disappointed" by what the State Department has called "baseless charges" against Ms. Saberi in demanding her release."We will continue to vigorously raise our concerns to the Iranian government."

Ms. Saberi was initially reported to have been detained for buying alcohol, an illegal act in the Islamic Republic. But, an unidentified judiciary source confirmed that a Revolutionary court had sentenced Ms. Saberi for espionage- a charge that could of risked the death sentence.

"Roxana said in court that her earlier confessions were not true and had been tricked into believing that she would be released if she cooperated," her father, Reza Saberi said.

Both Democratic senators from North Dakota, which is where Ms. Saberi's parents live, expressed outrage over the sentencing."This is a shocking miscarriage of justice," Senator Byron Dorgan said."The Iranian government has held a secret trial, will not make public any evidence, and sentenced an American citizen to eight years in prison for a crime she didn't commit."

This is an act to gain leverage in any future negotiations with the U.S. They sense the "Obama weakness," and are going to see what they can get away with. If they truly felt she was a spy, i don't think they would of hesitated with the death sentence.

With that said, i also believe that Iran is doing enormous damage to their credibility on the world stage with behavior like this.

This sentence comes after Washington has made overtures to Iran about starting a dialogue over its nuclear program.The White House said that Iran would gain good will from the United States if it "responded in a positive way" to the case. Tehran's response to the U.S. was that any intervention was "ridiculous and against international laws."

Ms. Saberi,31,was arrested in late January on the much lighter charge of buying alcohol, an illegal act in the Islamic Republic. The Iranian government later said that she was accused of working as a reporter without credentials, but the prosecutor's then said that she was put on trial for spying.Ms.Saberi is being held in the country's notorious Evin prison in Tehran.

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