Roxana Saberi's Case Inches Forward

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While hometowners are rallying support for Roxana Saberi via coverage on local radio and editorial commentary and, yes, the obligatory yellow ribbons, in Iran the momentum seems to be growing for Roxana's sentence to be eased.

Everybody's treading carefully on this one, our Congressional delegation is circumspect in their comments. But it wouldn't surprise our household if Roxana were released and presented with the oh-so-polite suggestion to depart the country permanently.

Is the outcome a fait accompli? We don't yet know...but we can hope this is all over but the posturing.

h/t and thanks to cbl for the msnbc link

UPDATE:

Just heard on a Fargo radio station that Roxana’s father Reza Saberi has said that she has told her parents if the sentence is upheld by the appeals court, she will go on a hunger strike to the death.

We in her hometown all share the concern that she is distraught. We urge that compassion over-ride whatever are Iran's internal political considerations and she be immediately released.

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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Roxana Saberi Not Forgotten

Sunday, April 5 UPDATE: Roxana's parents have arrived in Iran and reportedly have been granted permission to see their daughter.
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Saturday, April 4 UPDATE: Read more about Roxana's current circumstances in this LA Times article.
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Two powerful forces heighten the efforts to gain freedom for graduate student and one-time journalist Roxana Saberi. She has been imprisoned in Iran despite efforts from around the world to gain her freedom.

Now, Roxana's parents are on their way from Fargo to Tehran to personally appeal for her release.

Reza Saberi said he worries about his daughter’s mental health. Roxana was devastated when a prosecutor in Iran told her she would remain in detention for months or even years, her father said.

And in a most unusual step, the U.S. State Department has directly contacted Iranian officials during an international meeting about Afghanistan.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the Americans delivered a letter to the Iranians at Tuesday’s meeting in The Hague. The letter asks Iran to help resolve the cases of three detained or missing Americans, including former Fargo resident Roxana Saberi, a journalist working in Iran.

Reaching out, in ways grand and so very personal as only parents can be, with results yet to be determined.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Three Critical Days for Roxana Saberi

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News of any kind has been scant in the imprisonment in Iran of Roxana Saberi. Today, her father has told Fargo's Forum newspaper that the next three days will be critical toward the goal of her release.

Roxana Saberi grew up and attended schools in Fargo-Moorhead and began her journalism career here, one she continued while studying for her master's degree in Tehran. Now, that reporting may have led to her imprisonment these past six weeks.

The Saberi family attorney will be trying to determine if any actions have been taken in her case by Iranian officials. The Iranian New Year is approaching and Saberi's father says if no action is taken before that, she will be spending at least two more weeks in the prison.

Human Rights Watch and professional journalists' organizations as well as global media have appealed for her release. The family is also trying to work through the Japanese Embassy (Roxana's mother is Japanese).

For the Saberi family, the waiting is not idle...but it continues....
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette