Friday, April 24, 2009

Roxana Saberi

Roxana Saberi may be known now for the cruel imprisonment she is enduring but life was not always this way for her. Saberi was born in North Dakota to an Iranian mother and Japanese father. She graduated high school with honors and then went on to major in Communication and French at Concordia College in Minnesota. In 1997, Saberi was chosen Miss North Dakota, later placing in the top ten for Miss America. She then went on to receive a Master’s Degree from Northwestern University in Broadcast Journalism and a second Master’s Degree in International Relations from Cambridge University. She began working as a freelance journalist and in 2003 moved to Iran and promptly opened a news bureau for Feature Story News. Her press credentials were removed in 2006 but she went on to prepare to write a book and occasionally reported for NPR and ABC Radio.

That changed in February 2009 when she was arrested, originally for buying bottle of wine, which is taboo under Islamic laws. She was then charged with reporting without press credentials. On April 8, 2009 she was charged with espionage and given an eight-year prison sentence, leading to her current incarceration. There seemed to be little hope for the situation to improve until it was announced that she would be allowed to appeal and then that Iran’s judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi had called for there to be a full investigation into her case. This unexpected move is likely due to the attention given to her situation by people around the world.

This is a very rare move to be made but many believe that it is due to the attempts to create a dialogue between Iran and America, which may have been tried if they had continued to hold her prisoner without allowing her to appeal. The reactions of Americans who are central to our government, such as Hillary Clinton who has reportedly called for Saberi’s immediate release, probably greatly influenced Shahroudi to order the investigation. Along with Clinton, groups such as Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists and UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc have also followed her experience closely. They are likely at least marginally happy with her having been allowed to see her parents for the first time since she was sentenced and she is reported to be doing well given the circumstances. Situations similar to this one are not uncommon and journalists must always risk becoming the next Roxana Saberi.

For journalists in countries other than Iran, the risk of being arrested for espionage is still a very real one. They could easily be arrested and be imprisoned for an extended amount of time but for them, they may not be given the chance to appeal or to have a full investigation. Many countries would not give them those opportunities as it is only due to very rare circumstances that Iran gave Saberi them. Journalists are able to travel around the world to report the news to people worldwide but they are often prohibited from reporting information that the country does not approve of being released. Countries can also, clearly, arrest journalists and hold them for spying or for leaking information they did not want reported. The cost of reporting the facts can be substantial but many feel that it is their duty to show people what is truly happening in the world; uncovering faults and injustices despite the risks involved. They are aware that they could be arrested or killed but they continue to report because they feel that it is their calling. It is unknown whether Saberi will continue to report after she is released from her confinement but it can be assumed that many would like her to continue what she has been doing so well for so long.

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