Iranian officials are denying the widely reported fact that Roxana Saberi is on a hunger strike. These are the same people who first stated she was arrested for reporting without press credentials, but then charged her with espionage. Who said she would soon be released, but didn't release her. Who have railroaded her with a sham, one day behind closed doors trial - which even has Mahmoud Ahmadinejad making statements to appease international criticism that Miss Saberi wasn't allowed to defend herself - then sentenced her to 8 years.
Now these same people are calling her father a liar and claiming he made up the assertion that Miss Saberi's on a hunger strike for propaganda purposes.
Wow.
A spokesman for Iran's judiciary says an Iranian-American journalist jailed for espionage is not on a hunger strike and is in "good health".
Her father claims she has entered her second week of hunger strike to protest the sentence. Reza Saberi told Reuters that Roxana was "frail and weak" after refusing food for a week.
http://www.presstv.ir/...
But Iran's ISNA news agency quoted judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi as saying: "Roxana Saberi's condition is good and she is not on hunger strike."
Judge Hassan Haddad, deputy prosecutor for security issues, said the 32-year-old reporter had no physical problems.
"The issue of hunger strike was raised by those who have the intention of exploiting the issue ... for propaganda purposes," he said, according to the same news agency.
Haddad confirmed Saberi's lawyer had appealed the verdict.
"If there is a possibility of adjusting the sentence it will be done," he said, giving no detail on when the higher court would examine the issue.
http://www.reuters.com/...
Note, Haddad only mentioned the possibility of "adjusting the sentence", not the possibility of acquital in an appeals case. That doesn't bode well.
In addition, Miss Saberi's new defense team wasn't allowed to see her in Evin prison. Nobel Peace prize winner, Shirin Ebabdi, has agreed to help defend Miss Saberi.
Note: Ms. Ebabdi herself, had her Human Rights Center shut down by Iranian authorites a few months ago.
Iranian authorities have shut down the office of a human rights group led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, the AP reports.
The police raid targeted the Center for Protecting Human Rights as it was preparing to hold a celebration marking the 60th anniversary of Human Rights Day later in the day. Iranian authorities banned Ebadi's group last year.
Speaking from her home, Ebadi said the closed offices belong to two non-governmental organizations funded by her Nobel Peace Prize earnings: the Center for Participation in Clearing Mine Areas, which helps victims of landmines in Iran; and Defenders of Human Rights Center, founded five years ago to report human rights violations in Iran, defend political prisoners, and support families of those prisoners.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
But the lawyer coudn't get into Evin prison to see Roxana.
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi has agreed to help defend a U.S.-born journalist jailed for spying but prison officials refused to let a member of her team see Roxana Saberi on Sunday, an Ebadi aide said.
Lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani, a member of Ebadi's defence group, could not visit Saberi for a first meeting in Tehran's Evin jail even though a court had given its permission, spokeswoman Narges Mohammadi told Reuters.
Mohammadi initially said it was Ebadi who went to Evin, but she later said it was Soltani who had tried to see Saberi on behalf of the defence team.
"They didn't let him visit her," she told Reuters.
http://uk.reuters.com/...
So the Iranian juducial system, when examined up close in this case, reveals a dark underbelly of false statements, poor legal representation and a sham trial.
Roxana Saberi needs a fair appeal with a complete airing of her side of the facts. Will she get that? Who knows at this point.
moon