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April 18, 2009

American journalist experiences Iranian 'justice' first hand

Rick Moran
An American woman who was originally arrested for buying alcohol in Iran has been sentenced to 8 years for espionage.

Apparently, the poor woman was led to believe that if she cooperated - confessed to being a spy - she would be set free. I'm afraid she was in for a rude awakening:

Her attorney, Abdolsamad Khoramshahi, told The Associated Press that he would "definitely appeal the verdict."

Ms. Saberi was initially reported to have been detained for buying alcohol, an illegal act in the Islamic republic.

The ISNA news agency, quoting an unidentified judiciary source, confirmed that a revolutionary court had sentenced Ms. Saberi for espionage - a charge that could have risked the death sentence, according to Agence France-Presse. No date was given for the verdict.

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

"Her denial is documented in her case but apparently they did not pay attention to it," he added, without saying when he had spoken to his daughter.

"We are very shocked and we were not expecting it," A.F.P. quoted him as saying. "We were hoping for six months and then clemency."

When she's not trying to buy alcohol and party down, Saberi is a reporter for the BBC and NPR. She's lived in Tehran for 6 years. The Iranians swear they yanked her press pass in 2006 which makes her guilty of another crime. practicing journalism without a license. I don't want to characterize the beliefs of someone I don't know but reporting for two liberal outfits like the BBC and NPR while voluntarily living in a place that looks upon women as less than cattle would make one think that she is one of these starry eyed westerners who believes peace between Iran and the west is just a matter of following them on Twitter.

And what is America doing to help this unfortunate soul?

Well, Hillary Clinton is "deeply disappointed" in the verdict. One wonders if they had executed her fellow countryman what her reaction might have been. Would she have expressed "deep concern" or perhaps she would have been "very deeply disappointed."

She added, "We will continue to vigorously raise our concerns to the Iranian government."

I'm sure. The Iranians are laughing at such mush.

Either this woman is the greatest spy in the history of the United States or she is some innocent caught up in Iran's game playing. Iran is taking all of Obama's overtures and throwing them back in his face while expecting us to crawl on our knees and apologize for planting this dangerous "spy" among the poor, peace loving Iranian people.

Let's hope we ask some grown up country to intercede on our behalf and get this woman home.

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