TEHRAN: US-born reporter Roxana Saberi walked free from a Tehran jail on Monday after an Iranian court reduced her prison term for spying to a two-year suspended sentence, a foreign news agency reported.It ends a five-month ordeal for Saberi, who was initially detained in Tehran's notorious Evin prison in January and sentenced last month to an eight-year jail term on charges of spying for the United States."The verdict of the previous court has been quashed," her lawyer Saleh Nikbakht said. "Her punishment has been changed to a suspended two-year sentence."The ruling was greeted with joy and relief by Saberi's father, who has been in the country since March to push for her release and was waiting outside the prison to see his daughter.Iran's judiciary confirmed the news, saying that the sentence would be suspended for five years, while a judicial source said that the 32-year-old journalist would be free to leave the country.“She's free to do what she wants as any other citizen who has a passport and can come and go as they want," the source said.Her release comes just a day after a Tehran court heard a closed-door appeal by Saberi, who was initially detained in January reportedly for buying alcohol, an illegal act in the Islamic republic.The case triggered deep concern in Washington, which dismissed the spying charges as baseless, and among human rights groups. Saberi had been accused of "cooperating with a hostile state," a charge which carries a prison term of one to 10 years.
TEHRAN: US-born reporter Roxana Saberi walked free from a Tehran jail on Monday after an Iranian court reduced her prison term for spying to a two-year suspended sentence, a foreign news agency reported.It ends a five-month ordeal for Saberi, who was initially detained in Tehran's notorious Evin prison in January and sentenced last month to an eight-year jail term on charges of spying for the United States."The verdict of the previous court has been quashed," her lawyer Saleh Nikbakht said. "Her punishment has been changed to a suspended two-year sentence."The ruling was greeted with joy and relief by Saberi's father, who has been in the country since March to push for her release and was waiting outside the prison to see his daughter.Iran's judiciary confirmed the news, saying that the sentence would be suspended for five years, while a judicial source said that the 32-year-old journalist would be free to leave the country.“She's free to do what she wants as any other citizen who has a passport and can come and go as they want," the source said.Her release comes just a day after a Tehran court heard a closed-door appeal by Saberi, who was initially detained in January reportedly for buying alcohol, an illegal act in the Islamic republic.The case triggered deep concern in Washington, which dismissed the spying charges as baseless, and among human rights groups. Saberi had been accused of "cooperating with a hostile state," a charge which carries a prison term of one to 10 years.
Comments