UPDATE: Iran Charges American Woman With Spying and Treason

Roxana has been in Iran for 6 years. Iran is continuing with their nuclear program and the U.S. and Europe are trying to convince Iran to stop. Iran has thumbed their nose at everyone in the process and they have used every technique available to buy them more time. The Iranian nuclear program has reached a critical point where it must be stopped. If the U.S. and Europe won't stop it, Israel probably will. The timing of this is not coincidental. It's a diversion, plain and simple.
Rees

By FARNAZ FASSIHI
April 8, 2009

BEIRUT -- Iran's judiciary charged Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old American freelance journalist, with espionage on Wednesday after detaining her in prison for more than two months.

The charge was outlined on state television Wednesday evening by the Revolutionary Court judge in charge of the prosecution of Ms. Saberi, who was arrested Jan. 31.

Judge Sohrab Heydarifard said that Ms. Saberi had been collecting interviews and documents from government circles under the cover of a reporter, sometimes working without an Iranian government press card, and then transferring the information to American intelligence services.

"This has been uncovered by the counterespionage section of the Information Ministry, and she has thus been arrested. She will stand trial in the course of the following week," said Mr. Heydarifard.

In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was deeply concerned by the reported charge against Ms. Saberi and demanded her immediate release.

According to Iranian judiciary officials, Ms. Saberi has admitted to the charge against her. However, her lawyer, Abdulsamad Khoramshahi, said that she is innocent and has been wrongly accused.

"My first goal is to get her out on bail as soon as possible and then prove to the court that she must be acquitted on all charges," said Mr. Khoramshahi in a telephone interview from her home in Tehran.

Allegations against Ms. Saberi have fluctuated since her arrest. Iranian authorities first said Ms. Saberi had broken the law by purchasing a bottle of wine. Then they said she was working without a valid press card, although working without such a permit isn't a crime under Iranian law. They said initially that she would be released within weeks, and then that it might take months or years.

"We are very concerned for Roxana and for her safety. There is a serious lack of information in her case. What is the evidence against her?" said Mohamad Abdel Dayem, the Middle East director for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

Espionage is an extremely serious crime in Iran's penal code, and cases go to trial in the Revolutionary Court, a separate court system that also deals with such high-level crimes as treason and drug trafficking.

A senior public prosecutor in Tehran said that if Ms. Saberi were convicted of spying, she would face between three and 10 years in prison. If the court found her guilty of spying with intent to overthrow the government, she could face execution.

Over the past two months, as Ms. Saberi's case has received global attention, with petitions circling on the Internet for her immediate release, the U.S. Congress has lobbied on her behalf and Ms. Clinton said last week that the U.S. had sent Iran an official letter asking for her release. Iran denies receiving such a letter.

Ms. Saberi's case could complicate recent diplomatic gestures between Iran and the U.S., aimed at thawing ties severed in 1979. President Barack Obama has said he is ready to negotiate with Iran to try to resolve their differences. Tehran has said it too is willing to negotiate if it sees real policy change from the U.S.

Some analysts in Iran say that Ms. Saberi's case has taken a political tone and that she might be used as leverage to secure the release of three Iranian nationals arrested in Iraq in a U.S. military raid in 2007. The three Iranians are accused by the U.S. of spying for Iran's Revolutionary Guards but so far haven't been formally charged.

Ms. Saberi was born to an Iranian father and a Japanese mother in the U.S. and grew up in Fargo, N.D. She was an accomplished student, star athlete and a beauty queen who was crowned Miss North Dakota in 1997.

She moved to Iran six years ago to work as a freelance journalist and did broadcast and print stints for the BBC, National Public Radio, CBS and other media organizations. Two years ago, her press card was revoked, but she continued to work on personal projects, conducting interviews for a book on Iran.

Colleagues and friends in Iran say that she was mild-mannered and careful in her reportage and they were shocked to hear of her arrest. Ms. Saberi's parents flew to Tehran last week and met with their daughter in jail on Monday, according to her attorney. She was in better spirits, eating and exercising and was allowed to watch television and read books.

Her parents have appealed for her release to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, who is the only person in Iran possessing the power to pardon prisoners.
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Iranians Charge U.S. Journalist Roxana Saberi with Espionage

Hey Obama, When are you going to do something? We now have 1 female journalist being held in Iran and 2 female journalists being held in North Korea. Gee, I think they just might be testing you. So far, you're getting an "F".

Roxana Saberi is a 31 year old journalist from Fargo, North Dakota.

Rees

from Hot Air.com

April 8, 2009
by Ed Morrissey

Apparently, all that talk about friendship and Nowruz greetings hasn’t helped. Early last month, I wrote about the suspicious disappearance of American journalist Roxana Saberi in Iran after running afoul of the police for “illegal reporting”. Today, Fox and AP both report that the Iranians have charged Saberi with espionage for her efforts to write a book about the Iranian people:

The lawyer for an Iranian-American journalist detained in Iran says she has been charged with espionage.

The lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, says Roxana Saberi has been informed of the charges against her.

Saberi has apparently been held since late January on charges of purchasing alcohol, but the real crime is journalism without a license. Iran revoked Saberi’s permission to work as a journalist, but she chose to remain behind anyway to work on her book. Iranians often revoke permits for journalists while ignoring their work, but they obviously came to a different decision about Saberi — at the same time Barack Obama took the oath of office.

Joe Biden warned in October that nations would find ways to test a new, inexperienced President, and this looks like that kind of effort. The Iranians have gone out of their way to reject Obama’s overtures since he took office, including his call for greater dialogue. They have cemented their position on nuclear research, and have done their best to look as intransigent as possible. Thus far, they have not gotten Obama to push back against their rhetoric.

The trial of Roxana Saberi looks like another boundary test. Will Obama demand Saberi’s release publicly? Will Iran use it as a bargaining chip for further concessions? We will soon see how Obama responds to this test. In the meantime, keep Saberi and her family in your prayers.

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N.Korea to put 2 U.S. Journalists on Trial

from The Korea Times
03-31-2009 20:12
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter

North Korea announced Tuesday that it will try two U.S. journalists it has detained on charges of illegal entry and committing hostile acts, as opposed to expelling them.

Analysts say that the decision means it could take long time to get the pair released.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, both working with independent media Current TV, were taken into custody on March 17 near the China-North Korea border.

"The illegal entry of U.S. reporters into North Korea and their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements,'' said the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KNCA).

"The state is to indict them,'' the KCNA said.

However, it did not give any details as to what the "hostile acts'' were. Intelligence sources at home and abroad said the journalists were probably being interrogated for alleged spying. Under North Korean law, people convicted of espionage can be jailed for up to 20 years.

The KCNA's announcement came hours after the U.S. State Department said that a Swedish diplomat had access to the American journalists.

"It was over the weekend. A representative of the Swedish Embassy met with each one individually,'' State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said.

He did not specify the current condition of the Korean-American Lee and Chinese-American Ling, who are believed to have entered North Korea from China by mistake.

According to reports, they were sent to a top-security guesthouse on the outskirts of Pyongyang a day after they were arrested but State Department officials have not confirmed where they are being detained.

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FREE THE JOURNALISTS! North Korea is Taunting Obama - How will he respond?

When the two journalists were first kidnapped, it was reported that they were in Chinese Territory at the time. The Official China News Agency (Government) confirms the first news report.

This is a deliberate act by North Korea to taunt and intimidate Obama. Hey Barry! FREE THE JOURNALISTS!
Rees

FM: Detained US journalists 'not in Chinese territory'

from The China Daily
March 24, 2009

BEIJING - China said Tuesday that two Americans detained by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) were not "within the territory of China."

A report by the DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency said that the country detained two American women as they were "illegally intruding into the territory of the DPRK by crossing the DPRK-China border."

When asked to comment on the incident at a regular press briefing, Qin Gang said the two were not in Chinese territory and told reporters to ask for more information directly from relevant countries.

Pyongyang said the authorities were "investigating the case," while the United States was reported to have requested the DPRK to release the two journalists as soon as possible.

U.S. State Department spokesman Robert A. Wood said the country was in contact with the DPRK through the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang to ascertain the truth.
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