Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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April 19, 2009

Iran's President Calls for Fair Treatment for Detained Journalist
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Mr. Ahmedinejad made the request in a letter to the Tehran's
prosecutor's office 
 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, in the face of world criticism
of his country's trial of U.S.-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi on
charges of espionage, is urging the Iranian judiciary to allow Saberi a
full and fair defense during the appeal process. Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (file)Iran's official English-language Press TV
announced President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad had urged the country's
judiciary to guarantee American journalist Roxana Saberi be able to
defend herself to the full extent of the law. Mr. Ahmedinejad made the
request in a letter to the Tehran's prosecutor's office, amid mounting
world criticism of what appeared to be the shot-gun trial of Ms. Saberi
on charges of espionage. The dual U.S.-Iranian national Roxana Saberi
was sentenced to eight years in prison in an unusually harsh sentence
meted out by an Iranian court holding session behind closed doors
Saturday. The White House indicated President Barack Obama was "deeply
disappointed" by the sentence, and Saberi's father reportedly said she
had been "tricked" into confessing to bogus charges of espionage.
Saberi, a free-lance reporter who has worked for National Public Radio
and the BBC, was arrested in January, because her press credentials had
expired. She was accused of the more serious charge of "spying for the
United States," 10 days ago, and put on trial, Monday. The official
Iranian news agency reported Iranian President Ahmedinejad's chief of
staff wrote to Tehran Prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi about Saberi's case, as
well as that of jailed Iranian blogger Hossein Derakhshan. The letter,
published Sunday, urged Mortazavi to "make sure that all the legal
stages about the mentioned people be based on justice" and asked him to
"personally make sure that the accused enjoy all freedoms and legal
rights to defend themselves." Saberi's attorney, Abdolsamad
Khorramshahi, said he would appeal the eight-year sentence, telling
Reuters news agency he hoped the judiciary!
  would be "more accurate at the appeals stage," and that he be allowed
 freer access to his client. Soazig Dollet of Paris-based Reporters
Without Borders says her organization has been in contact with Saberi's
lawyer and that he is keeping a low profile, so as not to antagonize
Iran's judiciary system."I think there is a lot of pressure on the
family and on the lawyer, because I think we got many, many different
stories on this case, so we at Reporters Without Borders had contact
with the lawyer, yesterday," Dollet said. "He confirmed things, but he
really said that he does not want to talk to the press at least not to
also put pressure on the judicial system, also." Dollet also noted that
there are many Iranian journalists who are languishing in the country's
prisons and that the world community should not just focus on
Saberi."Also, I would just like to remember that she is one case, but
there are also many other Iranian journalists paying in Iran for charges
of spying. So, I think we also, as journalists, should focus on the
others, too,!
 " Dollet said. "She is really famous, now, because she has got American
citizenship. She has one case, but there are also many others that we
should fight on the same level."Saberi's mother, Akiko, told journalists
she was concerned about her daughter's health, "because she is sick." 


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