Roxana Saberi's jail sentence

This morning I was dismayed to discover that my former colleague, a person I worked closely with while she was at Feature Story News, has been jailed in Iran on charges of spying for the United States.

Roxana Saberi was a regular contributer of material while I was radio news editor for FSN, supplying broadcasters worldwide with newscast audio. She has also filed radio as a freelancer for NPR, Fox News and the BBC.

Iranian authorities suggested her initial arrest was the result of her buying a bottle of wine. She was then held in jail, accused of operating as a journalist in Iran without credentials. Finally she was put on trial in secret on charges of espionage.

Her plight highlights the dangers faced by reporters who strive to provide balanced coverage of events in unstable parts of the world. There are thousands of people who put themselves at extreme risk daily to conduct their work in a professional manner.

When uneducated debates are held in the US on the integrity/bias of journalists in the "mainstream" media, one need only look at the work of journalists like Roxana, to see that high quality, neutral and unvarnished reporting still exists on US outlets.

I refer to the statement of my current employer, Feature Story News:

Feature Story News has issued the following statement concerning the 8-year jail sentence handed down to our former Tehran Bureau Chief, Roxana Saberi. For further information, contact FSN President Simon Marks on + 1 202 210 1631:

Feature Story News is outraged and appalled to learn of the 8 year jail sentence imposed on our former employee, Roxana Saberi, by a court in the Islamic Republic of Iran following her conviction on a charge of "espionage".

FSN's President and Chief Correspondent Simon Marks issued the following statement:

"Roxana's conviction is an appalling miscarriage of justice - or what passes for justice in modern Iran. We note with concern that independent observers of the legal process - including immediate members of Roxana's own family - were not permitted to attend her 'trial' or the court session at which her sentence was imposed.

Roxana moved to Iran in February 2003 to offer global audiences balanced, objective coverage of news developments in the Islamic Republic. Since then, she has always honored journalistic principles of the highest professional standard.

We note that no evidence to support charges of espionage has ever been furnished by the authorities in Iran. We can only conclude that absolutely none exists.

Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Roxana and her family at this extremely difficult time. We once again urge the Iranian authorities to release Roxana immediately into the custody of her family, so that she can make plans to return to the United States where she was born and raised".