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Resolute, Saberi Marks 32nd Birthday

Parents of jailed journo told her 'the world was with her'

By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 26, 2009 1:00 PM CDT

(Newser) – Journalist Roxana Saberi is spending her 32nd birthday in an Iranian prison today—determined to maintain a hunger strike to protest her conviction and 8-year prison sentence for being an alleged American spy. “She didn't wait for us to persuade her not to do so,” her father told NPR, as now two lawyers began handling her case “behind closed doors.”

Saberi’s parents found her frail during their first visit, but her mother said telling her “the world was with her helped her. She knows she is not guilty. She hasn't done anything wrong. She said this is the only way to be true to herself. You have to be honest to yourself and to others—that's her character.”

[Images (4)]

[Videos (1)]

This undated photo released by the family of imprisoned Iranian-American shows journalist Roxana Saberi in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Saberi Family)

The parents of Roxana Saberi await her release in Iran. (AP photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)

Students rally in support of alumna Roxana Saberi on Thursday, April 23, 2009 at Northwestern's University in Evanston, Ill. (AP Photo/Jim Prisching)

This undated photo released by the family of imprisoned Iranian-American shows journalist Roxana Saberi in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/The Miss North Dakota Pageant, File)

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Roxana Saberi talks to MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell about his daughter's condition. (msnbc)

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Resolute, Saberi Marks 32nd Birthday