Roxana Saberi has entered into the sixth day of a hunger strike. Today is her 32nd birthday. Iran's courts convicted her of espionage and sentenced her to eight years in prison following a one hour, closed door trial. She has recently been denied access to her legal counsel.
According to NYT via The Grand Forks Herald "Ms. Saberi’s father, Reza Saberi, who came to Tehran two weeks ago from Fargo, N.D., to secure her release, said Sunday that neither she nor her lawyer was aware that the trial was taking place last Monday until after it was under way.'
"'The lawyer was only told to go meet Roxana last Monday,’ he said in a telephone interview. 'No one knew that they were trying her. Roxana found out 15 minutes into the session that she was being tried.
“‘None of them, neither Roxana nor the lawyer, were ready to defend her.'"
Michelle Malkin has a far more extensive write up than I do, including other abuses Iran has inflicted upon journalists and bloggers. I encourage you to go read it.
I also highly recommend a visit the Free Roxana Saberi website (also in the Blog List). Get involved, but still keep in mind that Roxana Saberi is not an isolated case. Even if her release can be won (and I pray that it is), this in no way exonerates the many other abuses and deaths that the government of Iran has inflicted upon both its own people and foreigners-- both within and outside its borders. All of these many other victims should, likewise, not be forgotten.
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