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| Iran will ensure justice for Saberi: Mottaki |
| 2009-05-03 |
| [Iran Press TV Latest] Iran's Foreign Minister says detained journalist Roxana Saberi's appeal will be heard and considered based on justice and Islamic compassion. "Any Iranian who violates the law will be prosecuted and Saberi is no exception to the rule," Manouchehr Mottaki said in a joint press conference with visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone on Saturday. The 32-year-old Saberi, who has reported for the BBC, NPR and other media, was arrested in late January for working in Iran after her press credentials had expired. The Iranian-American Saberi has been sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of spying for the government of the United States. Nakasone, for his part, expressed concern over the fate of the freelance journalist. "Since her mother is Japanese... from a humanitarian perspective, we are following the case with concern." Mottaki reassured his Japanese counterpart that Saberi's appeal would be considered based on justice and Islamic compassion. Earlier on Wednesday, Deputy Head of the Iranian prosecutor's office judge Haddad said the jailed Iranian-American journalist has a chance of sentence reduction on appeal. "The case will be reviewed by the court of appeal and amendments will be made to the sentence should there be room for amendments," said the judiciary official. Saberi's father, Reza, claimed that Roxana is on the second week of a hunger strike, telling the panel that she is "extremely unhappy and is on a hunger strike". Iranian Judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi on Tuesday rejected reports about Saberi's hunger strike, saying she is in "good health". |
| Posted by:Fred |