Roxana Saberi Begins Hunger Strike: ABC News

ABC News reports that US journalist Roxana Saberi begins a hunger strike today to protest her prison sentence in Iran. ABC News' George Stephonopoulos was in Tehran and met with the imprisoned journalist's parents, who said she was committed to the hunger strike.

"I tried to dissuade her but she said, 'not this time,'" Reza Saberi told Stephonopoulos. "She is, this time, determined to go on a hunger strike because she says she doesn't deserve to be in there in the prison, she hasn't done anything wrong. She should not be there."

Saberi, a freelance journalist who has worked for NPR and BBC, was convicted of espionage and sentenced to eight years in prison. Yesterday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he would not intervene in Saberi's case, as reported by Reuters.

Asked in an interview if he would release Saberi as goodwill gesture, Ahmadinejad said through a translator, "I am not a judge. And I do not pass judgment over judicial cases. And in Iran, the judiciary is independent.

Read more about her case here.

Comments

[Mollabaji]

this report is dated 4/23/09. Why does Huffpo. continue reprinting and reprinting this news item?

What is the hidden agenda Here?

[donklinestiver]

Remember Roxanna !!!

[SwingingFromCenter]

She does things wrong, she gets convicted...and she thinks she's going to get her way by harming herself?

Ira.n will just treat her like a dog. Put food in front of her and eventually she'll eat, no matter how mad she is.

[beherenow54]

Exactly how do you know she did anything wrong? Hmm? Exactly what facts to you have to support that? If you've tried and convicted her, show the facts to support it. Iran didn't show any facts at all so where did you get them?

[SwingingFromCenter]

How do you know she didn't? Because our government said she didn't? THere's a reliable source.

[Sheamus Burns]

Support Roxana Saberi on her 32nd Bday Sunday. Adopt 'free roxana' profile pic for facebook: http://bit.ly/D5Kef or for twitter: http://ginx.com/-sjmZ8 Pass the word.

[SwingingFromCenter]

Why? She's a convict.

[beherenow54]

Again, exactly how do you know that? What facts do you have that we don't have?

[wereeverywhere]

If you're willing to ignore the legacy of Iran's Ministry of Love and its wonderful Evin prison hotel, I could see where you could presume she's guilty. You have to erase an awful amount of history and reality, but when facts get in the way take a cue from the George W. playbook and ignore them, right?

BTW- some of my favorite people were convicts: Thoreau, ML King, Gandhi, Mandela, John Brown (short list).

[okphr]

The detention of Saberi and others like her is a tragedy that will hamper the efforts of Iranian citizens to connect with the world. Physicians for Human Rights and a coalition of human rights activists is spearheading a Global Day of Action on May 12 to call for the release of Drs. Kamiar and Arash Alaei, the two AIDS doctors who have been jailed in Tehran since June 2008 on false charges. Check out http://IranFreeTheDocs.org to find an Alaei vigil at an Iranian embassy near you.

[Mollabaji]

All anti-Iran propaganda fed by Israel backers and anti-Iran groups right here.
Why is this NEWS? One person charged with espionage in another country. So? If this woman goes on hunger strike, that is her decision and won't make a difference in the decision and shouldn't.
If she had been from an ally country, we would not have all this hallaballu. Hypocracy at its worst.

[Solaris123]

Mollahjan posted "I more faith in the Iraian justice system than the American one."

May you experience Iranian justice system firsthand. And soon.

[wereeverywhere]

I can't think of a single group more anti-Iranian (people) than the current Iranian government itself. Hopefully it will take a lot less than another thirty years to throw those jackals out of power.

[donklinestiver]

Yaddy Yaddy Yaddy. Well the Iranian Revolutionary guards are up and typing. Dont you have a innocent prisnor to beat. When its American its propanganda when its Iranian its gospel we get your view. We all should fast with her esp dates and figs.

[wereeverywhere]

Here's a statement from Human Rights Watch, for those who care about human rights being trampled by non-Americans: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/04/20/iran-journalists-conviction-tainted-secrecy

The conviction in an Iranian court of journalist Roxana Saberi on charges of espionage followed a fast-track, closed-door proceeding that gave her lawyer no opportunity to prepare a defense or adequately represent her, Human Rights Watch said today. On April 18, 2009, a court sentenced Saberi to eight years in prison.

"Saberi's 11 weeks of detention and one-day trial are tainted by a complete lack of transparency," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "This was a travesty of justice even by Iran's poor standards."

[wereeverywhere]

Maybe those wizards who've figured out that Saberi is guilty and/or those who think we can't demand her release can enlighten the dim bulbs over at Amnesty International. They've got the queer notion that she's a political prisoner. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/035/2009/en

"Roxana Saberi, who is a dual US-Iranian national, was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment after being convicted of espionage on 18 April 2009. Amnesty International believes she is a prisoner of conscience, held either for political reasons related to Iran-US relations or for the peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression. She should be released immediately and without condition."

[Solaris123]

but...but heroic Ahamdinejad' s struggle.... but colonialism... neo-colonialism... post-colonialism... post-imper­ialism....­. BUT BOOOOSH...

[roshni]

Stephanopoulos better watch it. He might be next.

[indyleftist]

I find it interesting that she is copying the tactics of the Guantanamo prisoners

[antranig]

Are you suggesting this is asymmetric warfare?

[Solaris123]

Her trial lasted about 4 hours. In a secret proceeding., And some moronz- here think it was a legit case.

[wereeverywhere]

Not only that, but IRI has proven track record of using incarceration to control journalists; she was held in Evin prison in isolation; the 'charges' escalated from possession of wine(!) to espionage. If she's on a hunger strike, I infer that means she's welcoming more light be shown on the details of her case and I hope that she succeeds.

What a tragedy thirty years ago to trade the tyranny of the Shah for tyranny of the mullahs.

[italianspaniard]

Please, she was a spy and she got cought

[Solaris123]

But then again,ital­ianspaniar­d, you believe that Jesoos walked on water.
So your grip on reality is quite tenuous, isn't it?

[donklinestiver]

The Americans in our embassy bound and blindfolded and dragged through the streets filled with crazed Iranians they were all spies to remember. The Holocost didnt happen. If its said by Iran its a LIE !!!

[leatherneck1971]

You have to ask yourself, what was she doing in Iran? I might buy her theory of not being a CIA operative but its common knowledge CIA uses journalists all the time to gather data, use them as mules to go and get information from turn coats in other nations, to say she is innocent blankly is a little like blind faith when Bush got up and said we do not torture! Guess that lie has forever been put to rest now! As to her doing a hunger strike, they will merely force tube feed her and only person she hurts is herself, since a regime like Iran is not really a touchy feely regime whom would care if you did such things!

[Solaris123]

shameful statement.

[Solaris123]

I am asking myself who let you out of a cage? And who is responsible for it?

[MideastDove]

Harsh, but true.

[beherenow54]

By your reasoning, anyone who is in Iran, for anything, could be a spy and if Iran says they are, then they are. Period. Ridiculous, and exactly what our founding fathers fought against. Guilty until proven innocent, with no change to prove your innocence. A 4-hour trial for spying, which her lawyer didn't have time to put a defense together for? You think she had a fair trial??

What was she doing in Iran: The BBC and NPR have both come out publicly to confirm that she works for them. She has said she was writing a book on Iran. I fail to see why that is so hard to believe with no hard evidence or facts to state otherwise.

It's not blind faith, it's innocent until proven guilty. It's an open, transparent process where she can properly defend herself, which I do not believe she has had a chance to do. Bush decided that anyone could be held indefinitely without habeas corpus, on his say-so alone. Stupid blind faith is believing he has that right, and do nothing about it. They MUST be bad because he said they were, right? And, he was our protector. Totally different.

[gditty]

Where's our hostage negotiator Jesse Jackson? J E S S E !!!!!!!! J E S S E!!!!!!!

[twoopeneyes]

She's too pretty to be wasting away as a political prisoner.

And you know they'll be raping her daily.

[RaWash]

no i don't, please tell me.

[indyleftist]

She is the former miss North Dakota

Luckily for her unlike America Iran does not practice widespread sexual abuse of its prisoners

[wereeverywhere]

Oh don't underestimate the love in Evin prison:

"Detainees – whether political or not - are all too frequently subjected to torture or other ill-treatment, particularly in the initial period of detention when little information is known about their whereabouts and situation. Methods described by former detainees include beatings, suspension from a height, insults, threats of rape, sexual abuse, electric shocks, prolonged sleep deprivation, being forced to stand in uncomfortable positions for long periods and prolonged solitary confinement. Denial of necessary medical treatment has also become increasingly common in recent years, apparently intended to place extra pressure on detainees and prisoners. Punishments which constitute torture or other ill-treatment – such as flogging and amputation - are also imposed and implemented."
AmnestyInt­ernatriona­l http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/010/2009/en/03d99921-f378-11dd-b339-21ceadf1e5ba/mde130102009eng.html

[Snuffleupagus]

Her hunger strike will need media support to succeed.
How will Iran respond?
I sincerely hope not like our own US facilities under Bush.....or Obama.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=12613

"....The response is to restrain them in chairs, force tubes through their noses and throats abrasively enough to draw blood, and pump food into their stomachs - a procedure causing excruciating pain.

Strikes began as early as February 2002, involving as many as 200 or more prisoners at a time, and continuing on and off for months. Constant abuse sparks them or just an individual act.

Introduced in December 2005, "restraint chairs" are called "padded cell on wheels" because they confine legs, arms, shoulders, and head. A thickness of a finger tube is then forcibly inserted up the nose to the stomach for as much as 1.5 liters of formula, or more than a stomach can hold - causing severe pain, bloating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and shortness of breath.

No sedatives or anesthesia are given, and men are kept strapped in for an hour to prevent purging. The procedure is generally repeated twice daily with the same tubes, covered in blood and stomach bile, reportedly used from one inmate to another with no proper sanitation. "The policy of force-feeding with restraint chairs continues to this day under the Obama administration."

[paddiwakk]

Umm, I wonder where Iran looks for inspiration on how to deal with people on a hunger strike