Iran: Iran Holds Closed Trial For American Journalist

Verdict Expected in One to Two Weeks

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Reza Saberi, left, the father of American-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi who has been in jail for more than two months in Iran, listens to lawyer of Roxana, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, in his office in Tehran on Thursday April 9, 2009. American female journalist Roxana Saberi has been charged with spying, her lawyer said Wednesday, dashing hopes of a quick release, just days after her parents arrived in the country to press for her freedom. Roxana Saberi asserts her innocence of the charges. (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian) (Hasan Sarbakhshian - AP)

In this undated photo released by the The Miss North Dakota Pageant, Roxana Saberi is shown, in North Dakota. Saberi, a 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen, was arrested in late January and initially accused of working without press credentials. But an Iranian judge leveled a far more serious allegation on Wednesday, charging her with spying for the United States. (AP Photo/The Miss North Dakota Pageant) (AP)

This undated photo provided Tuesday, March 3, 2009 by the National Press Photographers Association shows U.S. journalist Roxana Saberi. Saberi, who has been jailed for more than two months in Iran, has been charged with espionage, her lawyer said Wednesday, April 9, 2009, dashing hopes of a quick release days after her parents arrived in the country seeking her freedom. (AP Photo/NPPA) (AP)

In this undated photo released by Marilyn McGinley, Roxana Saberi is shown, in North Dakota. Saberi, a 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen, was arrested in late January and initially accused of working without press credentials. But an Iranian judge leveled a far more serious allegation on Wednesday, charging her with spying for the United States. (AP Photo/Marilyn McGinley) (AP)

Reza Saberi, the father of American-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi who has been in jail for more than two months in Iran, photographed in Tehran on Thursday April 9, 2009. American female journalist Roxana Saberi has been charged with spying, her lawyer said Wednesday, dashing hopes of a quick release, just days after her parents arrived in the country to press for her freedom. Roxana Saberi asserts her innocence of the charges. (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian) (Hasan Sarbakhshian - AP)

Roxana Saberi, a U.S.-Iranian citizen, has been charged with spying. (AP)

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By Thomas Erdbrink
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, April 15, 2009; Page A08

An Iranian American journalist accused by Iran of spying for the United States has been tried behind closed doors, Iran's judiciary said yesterday, and a verdict is expected in one to two weeks.

Roxana Saberi "has been charged with spying for foreigners. The first session of the court was held yesterday, and her last defense was heard," judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi told journalists, the semiofficial Iranian Students News Agency reported.

"Her spying was for the United States, and I think the verdict will be passed within a couple of weeks," Jamshidi added, saying that it was up to the judge to decide whether future hearings would be open to the public.

The Obama administration says the charges against Saberi, 31, are baseless and has demanded her immediate release.

Saberi holds U.S. and Iranian citizenship, but Iranian law does not recognize her U.S. nationality. Jamshidi dismissed the U.S. call to free Saberi, saying that "giving an opinion on a case, by an individual or a government, without being informed about the facts in it, is utterly ridiculous."

Before Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance revoked Saberi's press credentials in 2006, without specifying the reason, she had worked in the country on a freelance basis for the BBC, U.S.-based National Public Radio and other news organizations.

She remained in Iran and, according to her parents, is writing a book.

Saberi was arrested in late January for allegedly buying alcohol, which is illegal in Iran. Last week, however, an Iranian judge leveled a far more serious allegation against her: spying for the United States.

"This accused has been coming and going to certain government circles under the cover of reporter and without a permit," Judge Sohrab Heydarifard told state television last Wednesday. "She has perpetrated actions to compile and gather information and documents and transferred them to American intelligence services."

Spying is a serious charge in Iran, where political leaders regularly accuse the United States and Britain of espionage and support for organizations known to have committed terrorist acts against Iranian civilians. The heaviest punishment for espionage is death. In a recent high-profile case, a well-connected former Iranian official working as a businessman selling telecommunications equipment was convicted of spying on the military for Israel and hanged in 2008.

Saberi's parents, Reza and Akiko Saberi, met with their daughter in prison yesterday, news agencies reported. They had traveled to Tehran from their home in Fargo, N.D., to follow the case.

"We met Roxana today for a few minutes, and she is doing well," Reza Saberi told Agence France-Presse. "We are waiting for the judge to make a decision. [The verdict] should come out in a week. There is always hope. But we don't know what will happen."

Bahrain: Bahrain's Shaikha Mai wants better laws, closer media cooperation

Gulfnews
By Habib Toumi, Bahrain Bureau Chief
Published: April 14, 2009, 15:03

Manama: Bahrain's culture and information minister has called for the codification of press freedom to help promote media standards and reinforce liberties.

"We will, persistently and inexorably, move towards the codification of the freedom of the press as part of the general and public freedoms that must be expanded and developed. All legal and administrative obstacles should be removed so that press freedom can be guarantees are built on robust foundations and exercised within an enlightened and advanced environment," said Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammad Al Khalifa.

"We strongly believe that the press plays a crucial role in the civil dialogue that reinforces freedoms and empowers people to comment on them and explain them," she told members of the International Federation of Journalists who were holding a forum in Bahrain.

According to Shaikha Mai, the media has a crucial role in helping the world confront formidable challenges that include creating employment opportunities, addressing problems related with population growth, wars, climate changes and the need protection of civilizations and heritages.

"In the face of such challenges, we need to stimulate solidarity within the media and develop general commitments to international rights and to civil and political pledges and covenants. We should transfer these international accords to our local legislation and review our laws and rules accordingly. We do need robust partnerships for the sake of the future of the press: ethically and professionally and in terms of knowledge and training," she said.

Genuine partnership with the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists which has around 600,000 members, could result in improving performances, enhancing practices, spreading the values related to diversified media and bolstering professional standards through training programmess and outstanding initiatives, said the minister who was given the media portfolio last September in a limited cabinet reshuffle.

Bahraini journalists have been pushing for the adoption of a new press law that would guarantee greater freedom and the abolition of jail sentences for reporters and editors.

The government last year presented a law draft, but the parliament has yet to decide on its merits.

Journalists are weary that conservative lawmakers in the lower house would oppose lifting prison jails under the claim that people working in the media should not be given any special privileges.

The Bahrain Journalists Association has been lobbying for the promulgation of a more tolerant press law.