FREE ROXANA: AMERICAN JOURNALIST SHOULD BE RELEASED BY TEHRAN : AZ IMC

Chicago, IL - Roxana Saberi, journalist and former Ms. North Dakota, was branded an American spy and jailed for eight years by Iran after a brief trial held behind closed doors.
Saberi was secretively arrested by Iranian authorities without a charge informing her family a month later about the arrest. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was "deeply disappointed" by the verdict.
Ms Saberi's father and lawyer say they are appealing. Mr Saberi said his daughter was "quite depressed" and wanted to go on hunger strike but he was trying to persuade her against doing so.
The case is bound to have serious implications for relations between Iran and the US at a time when President Obama has been reaching out to Iran.
Human rights groups have repeatedly criticized Iran for arresting journalists and suppressing freedom of speech. The most high-profile case came in 2007, when Iran arrested four Iranian-Americans, including the academic Haleh Esfandiari. The four were imprisoned or had their passports confiscated for several months until they were released and allowed to return to the U.S.
Human rights groups have called on the government of Iran to release journalist and American citizen Roxana Saberi.
Ms. Saberi, a New Jersey born American young journalist worked for NPR, ABC, and BBC, and lived in Iran for the past six years pursuing a career in journalism, graduate studies and working on a book about Iran.
Americans share the concerns of Ms. Saberi’s family and urge Iranian authorities to release Ms. Saberi according to the Geneva Conventions, and give access to her family along with human rights organizations to ascertain her health and well-being, and to determine the conditions under which she is held.
Aladdin Elaasar is a columnist and lecturer. Elaasar wrote: Silent Victims: The plight of Arabs and Muslims in Post 9/11 America. And “The Last Pharaoh: Mubarak and the Uncertain Future of Egypt in the Volatile Mid East”. Elaasar has been a frequent commentator on Middle Eastern affairs on several local American TV and Radio networks and media and cultural consultant since 1992. Email: omaraladin@aol.com