Iran frees US scribe Saberi after global outcry

An Iran court has cut jailed US-Iranian reporter Roxana Saberi’s sentence to two years suspended and she will be freed later on Monday, her lawyer says. The court heard Saberi’s appeal against her original eight-year prison sentence on Sunday, after an international outcry. She will be able to leave the country, but has been banned from working as a journalist in Iran for five years.

Saberi was convicted of spying for the US in April but denies the charge. The case sparked international concern and US president Obama has appealed on her behalf. One report quoted a judicial source as saying she had already been allowed to leave.
Her father Reza expressed joy at the ruling and said he and his wife Akiko were on the way to collect Roxana Saberi from the jail. “We are very happy,” he said. “We heard the news half an hour ago, we are going to Evin prison to take her home.”

Saberi has been held in Tehran’s Evin prison since January. The journalist originally faced a less serious accusation of buying alcohol, and later of working as a reporter without a valid press card. Soon after, the spying charge was introduced, and she was tried and sentenced behind closed doors by the Revolutionary Court.

Saberi, who holds dual US and Iranian citizenship, has spent six years in Iran studying and writing a book. She has worked as a journalist for news organisations including the BBC and the US-based National Public Radio.