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Smiling Saberi 'Happy' to Be Free

Father says she battled 'psychological pressure' in prison

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted May 12, 2009 6:56 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Journalist Roxana Saberi says she’s “very happy” to be free and reunited with her parents and today thanked those who helped win her freedom from an Iranian prison, the AP reports. One of her lawyers said her conviction was partially because she had visited Israel, illegal for Iranian citizens, and because she had a copy of a confidential Iranian government document about the Iraq war.

She obtained the document while working as a freelance Web translator for a powerful body connected to Iran's ruling clerics. She copied it out of “curiosity,” she told the appeal court Sunday, noting that she didn’t share it with US officials; the court reduced her charge from espionage to possessing confidential documents. Her father, meanwhile, told NPR she’d faced “no physical abuse” in prison but had battled with “psychological pressure” from confinement.

US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi talks with media in Tehran, Iran on Tuesday May 12, 2009.
US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi talks with media in Tehran, Iran on Tuesday May 12, 2009.   (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)
US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi smiles as she talks with media in Tehran, Iran on Tuesday May 12, 2009.
US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi smiles as she talks with media in Tehran, Iran on Tuesday May 12, 2009.   (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)
US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi, center left, arrives at her home accompanied by her mother, Akiko, a day after she was freed after four months in jail, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, May 12, 2009.
US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi, center left, arrives at her home accompanied by her mother, Akiko, a day after she was freed after four months in jail, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, May 12, 2009.   (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
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COMMENTS
Showing 1 of 1 comment
EddyTeach
May 12, 2009 12:27 PM CDT
I'm interested to see what "classified documents" she had that led to her arrest-- otherwise, I'm glad this ended well. Hooray Roxana!

 
Iran • espionage • journalist • prison release • Roxana Saberi • Reza Saberi

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