Iranian-American Journalist Roxana Saberi is continuing a hunger strike she initiated last week while imprisoned in Iran. Saberi’s father told CNN “She was supposed to see her lawyer on Thursday but the lawyer could not get permission from the courts to go see her…She says she will continue the strike until she is free from prison.” Her father later told Reuters that Saberi’s condition is deteriorating, despite reports from the Iranian government that she is healthy.
Saberi is in the process of appealing an espionage conviction and is being represented by Iran’s Nobel Laureate Dr. Shirin Ebadi. Saberi was initially arrested in February, purportedly for working without press credentials. In March, she was charged with espionage and being an American spy. She was sentenced to 8 years in prison after a one day, closed-door trial.
No evidence against Saberi has been released by the Iranian government. The United States has called the charges against her “baseless” and reports indicate that she may have been forced to make incriminating statements while imprisoned. According to the New York Times, an Iranian judiciary official has said the verdict will be reconsidered.
