I know that there are those who claim that Iran is misunderstood.
The case of Roxana Saberi though is instructive.
Iran’s PressTV first reported on her arrest on March 4. Saberi had told her father in a phone call February 10, that she had been detained after buying a bottle of wine. However an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said that she had been arrested for working without a press card.
On March 6, apparently in reaction to Secretary of State Clinton’s very public request for information about Saberi, a prosecutor announced that an investigation had been carried out and and that she would be released within a few days.
Then on March 9, PressTV reported that Saberi’s lawyer had met with her, but that no release date was announced. The lawyer reported that Saberi was “depressed” but showed no signs of physical torture.
Most recently on March 24, PressTV reported that Saberi told her father that she was considering a hunger strike Apparently referring to the March 9 report, PressTV added:
Her lawyer had earlier reported that Roxana was depressed but in good health and that that there was no sign of physical or mental torture. He, however, added that the exact date of her release was not yet clear.
Actually on March 9, the lawyer only mentioned that she showed no sign of physical torture. Given that her father now talks about having to calm her down, that she’s depressed and considering a hunger strike, I’d suspect that there’s been some mental torture involved, if only due to the uncertainty.
On March 3, this is what State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid had to say:
MR. DUGUID: I addressed this yesterday. We have seen press reports that Ms. Saberi has been detained under a judicial order. I don’t have an official communication of that from our protecting power, but we continue to request assistance from the Iranian Government in identifying Ms. Saberi’s whereabouts. We’re working with the Swiss Embassy in Tehran to seek additional information, as I noted, about her whereabouts and circumstances.
If Ms. Saberi is being detained by Iranian authorities, we urge the Government of Iran to provide access to legal advice, a transparent judicial process, and consular access for a Swiss consular official.
Well when the supposed “crime” is reporting without a permit and nearly two months have passed without the results of the investigation being made public, “transparency” is hardly operative.
It’s also interesting that the only positive response from the Iranian government came after Secretary of State Clinton publicized Saberi’s fate. Maybe, despite the lack of relations between the United States and Iran, publicity from high ranking American officials would force Iran’s hand into freeing Ms. Saberi.
While it’s clear that Iran’s leaders weren’t much impressed by President Obama’s Nowruz speech, maybe it would still help for the administration to keep Roxana Saberi’s case out in the open. Iran seemingly responded to Secretary Clinton’s mention of the case, but hasn’t been forthcoming since.
At a website publicizing the plight of Roxana Saberi it’s mentioned that:
The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that in 2008, Iran was the sixth-leading jailer of journalists.
I don’t think that silence will aid their causes.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
