Lawyer: Iran convicts US journalist of spying

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Last updated April 18, 2009 3:56 a.m. PT

Lawyer: Iran convicts US journalist of spying

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

TEHRAN, Iran -- An Iranian court has convicted an American journalist of espionage and sentenced her to eight years in prison.

That's according to Roxana Saberi's lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi. He told The Associated Press on Saturday that he'll appeal the verdict.

It's unclear when Saberi was convicted. She was put on trial on Monday.

The American-Iranian citizen was arrested in January and initially accused of working without press credentials. But later, an Iranian judge charged her with spying for the United States.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1107ap_ml_iran_us_journalist.html

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

1. I held my breath when the story started on NPR this

morning - I was afraid they had sentenced her to death.

[ohio2007]

4. Same here, luckily, the mullahs didn't play the death sentence card. "Like the wine"?

It'll cost you eight years in Evian prison. Funny, the mullahs like to booze it up themselves on occasion.

Oh, the hypocrisy

[cali]

2. my goodness. wasn't that quick.

I don't buy it. I doubt very, very much that she was a spy.

[ohio2007]

5. Lawyer: Iran convicts US journalist of spying ( She needs another lawyer )

snip
Iran has released few details about the charges against Saberi. Iranian officials initially said she had been arrested for working in the Islamic Republic without press credentials and she had told her father in a phone conversation that she was arrested after buying a bottle of wine.

An Iranian investigative judge involved in the case charged that Saberi was passing classified information to U.S. intelligence services

snip


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090418/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_us_journalist

Does she look CIA ?


The ugly side of the CIA spy buisness people constantly talk about.

She should have taken the Caracas job.....
:sarcasm:

[24601]

7. Could we trade her for CNN's Christiane Amanpour ?

I'd MUCH rather look at Roxana.

[muriel_volestrangler]

26. Did Valerie Plame look CIA?

I can't see what her looks have to do with it.

[hraka]

3. K&R!

First NK (Laura Ling & Euna Lee) & now Iran. I fear a trend.

[24601]

9. It's not uncommon for a new President to be tested

Let's sit back and see how he handles it.

[Bandit]

6. Maybe she is a spy.

We don't know for sure. We were not at her trial. We don't know much if anything about their legal system. I do know that with all that is going on in the world the USA most likely does have spies in Iran and other countries around the globe. She may very well be one of them, then on the other hand she may just be an innocent American journalist. :shrug:

[ohio2007]

22. Maybe she is gay also . If that be the case then it's game-set-match

ya never know how she swings unless you bee around her long enough

[Baby Snooks]

30. No she can't be gay...

If she were, she would have been stoned to death.

[chill_wind]

8. K & R. Was just about to post this. Times Online:

From Times Online
April 18, 2009

US journalist receives eight-year sentence for spying
Robin Henry

AN American journalist has been jailed for eight years after an Iranian court convicted her of spying.

The trial of Roxana Saberi, 31, lasted just five days and took place behind closed doors.

Saberi, a freelance reporter for the BBC and America’s National Public Radio, was arrested in January initially for not carrying the correct press credentials. She was then accused of passing classified information to US intelligence services and taken to Tehran’s Evin jail.

The United States say the charges of espionage are baseless and have demanded her immediate release, while fellow journalists have set up an internet campaign to highlight her plight.


A former Miss North Dakota, Saberi, who has an Iranian father and Japanese mother, moved to Iran six years ago. The 31-year-old is a citizen of both the United States and Iran, but Tehran does not recognise dual nationality status.

(...)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6120845.ece

[Orwellian_Ghost]

10. Iran convicts US journalist of spying

Source: AP


Lawyer: Iran convicts US journalist of spying
AP


By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press Writer – 11 mins ago

TEHRAN, Iran – An American journalist jailed in Iran has been convicted of spying and sentenced to eight years in prison just days after she was tried behind closed doors, her lawyer said Saturday, dashing any hopes for her quick release.

The verdict was the first time Iran has found an American journalist guilty of spying, and it was unclear how the conviction would affect recent overtures by the Obama administration for better relations and engagement with Washington's longtime adversary.

Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen, was arrested in late January and initially accused of working without press credentials. But earlier this month, an Iranian judge leveled a far more serious allegation, charging her with spying for the United States.

<snip>



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090418/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_us_journalist

[Patiod]

11. Need international pressure on this one, not US govt pressure

This morning, people on NPR (her employer) were saying that hardliners were hoping to create and international incident out of this, and put roadblocks to US-Iranian discussions, because if relationships warm up between the two countries, they stand to lose big.

But if international groups like Amnesty and others put pressure on, it's a different story, and then the hardliners can't use her as a wedge between the two countries

Please K&R

[Tim01]

12. Is this a response to Obamas "lets work together" speach?

[ohio2007]

24. its all about the "open your clenched fist " screed.

The women bought wine

such an abomination must be dealt with.......


When it comes to alcohol ,
Iran should have a "Don't ask, Don't sell" policy in place by now.

happy 30th anniversary mullahs :toast: :party: :beer:

[L. Coyote]

13. "tried behind closed doors" Unthinkable! Wait ..... that's the American Way now!, thanks to Bush.

[Baby Snooks]

15. And thanks to Obama....

Many of the policies of Bush are still in place - kept in place by Obama. He releases memos detailing how the Bush administration tortured prisoners despite claiming it didn't and then tells us to "move on."

We don't torture and we don't spy, you say?

How do we know she isn't a CIA agent? Because someone says she's not?

[cali]

19. yes, yes, everyone accused of spying in this country has been tried

behind closed doors. In fact, all criminal trials in this country are held behind closed doors. And bush is no longer president- much as you wish to conflate Obama with bush.

[ohio2007]

25. ? what trials? those trials are still on hold

[L. Coyote]

31. I forgot, no more right to a trial either, thanks to Bush. What Constitution?

[inwiththenew]

14. Sad,

Didn't the Iranians torture and kill a Canadian/Iranian journalist back in 2005?

[mattvermont]

16. well, was she?

likely, yes

[mattvermont]

27. They couldn't put Anderson Cooper in there

His cover was already blown

[maryf]

35. In case you missed this: Iran president urges full defense for US reporter

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090419/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_us_journalist

Yahoo! News
Iran president urges full defense for US reporter
27 mins ago

TEHRAN,Iran – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said an American journalist sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of spying for the U.S. should be allowed to offer a full defense at her appeal, the state news agency reported Sunday.

The statement came a day after Iran announced the conviction and sentence for Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen. It was the first time Iran has found an American journalist guilty of espionage and her lawyer said he will appeal.

Ahmadinejad instructed chief Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi to personally ensure that "suspects be given all their rights to defend themselves" against the charges. "Prepare for the court proceedings ... to observe and apply justice precisely," the IRNA state news agency quoted the president as saying.

Saberi's case has been an irritant in U.S.-Iran relations at a time when President Barack Obama is offering to start a dialogue to break a 30-year-old diplomatic deadlock. A few days before her sentence was announced, Ahmadinejad gave the clearest signal yet that Iran too was ready for a new relationship with the U.S.

The White House said Saturday that Obama was "deeply disappointed" by Saberi's conviction. The U.S. has called the charges baseless and said Iran would gain U.S. good will if it "responded in a positive way" to the case.

more at link above

I'd say Ahmadinejad is responding in a postive manner...

[christx30]

17. When I heard about it

I pretty much dismissed it out of hand. I don't believe she is a spy for the U.S. any more than I am. Iran is just trying to use her as a pawn by the Iranians in a cold war against us. They want to see what Obama is going to do about it. Will he sit back and watch an innocent American lose 8 years of her life in that shit country? Will he demand that she be released and allowed to return to the States? Will he head an international campaign to get her out?
The charges against this woman are Seran Wrap thin at best. Iran is using her to find out how much Obama will let them get away with. He needs to do get her the hell out of there.

[thewiseguy]

18. What if she really was a spy?

:shrug:

[cali]

20. and that makes a one day closed trial just dandy with you?

[Baby Snooks]

29. Maybe the Obama administration requested it be closed?

Sorry but apart from releasing memos from Buschco for political reasons Obama seems intent on keeping the status quo the status quo.

That was then. Now is now. And now we must defend and protect our shadow government at all costs. Our freedom depends on it.

[ohio2007]

23. see post # 22

If only the wheels of justice in Gitmo were that fast lol
They'd all be getting out this year as one big happy family

[Igel]

32. Then we lose the bet.

The problem is that a fair number of countries define "spying" in ways that you and I don't. For us, it's "confidential" information--we may include industrial secrets among the possible objects of spying, but information considered secret and held close to the chest concerning infrastructure, military movements, weapons technology, classified diplomatic reasoning and positions are clearly potential objects of spying.

Observing where electrical transmission towers are might be suspicious for those considering sabotage, but that's not "spying"--that's casing them for an attack.

In other countries, "things that are embarrassing" or "information that might be useful to other countries" are "secret". Even if they're completely public "things" or information available to everybody and their sister.

Making available to non-citizens the contents of newspaper articles. Photographing public buildings (without intent to bomb them). Commenting on the whereabouts of public officials. Even reporting your own personal experiences dealing with the bureaucracy or saying what you observed while in an area that members of the public are allowed to be in.

As an example: When I was in the USSR, we were told not to photograph public buildings unless they were obviously touristy (even by accident, in the background); when in doubt--and make it a habit of being in doubt--ask. (Of course, the answer was almost always, "no", because the clerks and whatnot were also told to say "no" whenever in doubt--and to make it a habit of being in doubt). Moreover, we were told not to photograph any policeman or military person in uniform, even by accident while taking a picture of your friend at the train station--their faces might be used by intelligence officers at some point. My wife was warned by a policeman when taking pictures of a large public park that this was not allowed. The problem isn't that they always enforce the rules: It's that the rules are there to be enforced, and are enforced when it suits the authorities, when they want to punish somebody or issue a warning or make a statement. There was no political reason to arrest my wife.

Russia's not as bad as it used to be. China is still pretty bad. Quite a few countries--including Iran--are still a problem in this regard.

[Psephos]

33. But wait...what if...YOU...are really a spy?

:eyes:

[ProudDad]

21. This sounds just like the U.S. "war on Terra (tm)"

Except in Iran:

They informed the defendant of the charge and the evidence against her...no conviction on secret evidence.

They didn't hold her for 6 or 7 years without charge and without informing anyone where she was.

They didn't torture her for "information".

They allowed her access to council.

They allowed visits from her family.

They've given her a date certain when she will be released.

------

Wow, the Iranians are more just and fair than USAmerika when it comes to espionage and "terrorists"...

[Psephos]

34. If I were falsely coerced into a confession and you were my dad I would not be proud of you n/t

[Milspec]

28. It's unclear when Saberi was convicted

It christal clear, when she was arrested