Apr 21, 2009 8:50 pm US/Eastern
Jackson Offers To Go To Iran To Help Free Saberi
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Reverend Jesse Jackson is offering to travel to Iran to help with the release of a convicted American journalist with Chicago ties.
Jackson has proposed to travel with a delegation to Iran to try and free Roxana Saberi.
The Northwestern graduate is serving 8 years in jail after the Iranian government convicted her of espionage.
In 1984, Jackson successfully secured the release of a Navy pilot held in Syria. In 1991, he helped secure the release of 500 people held in Iraq. And in 1999, he and then congressman Rod Blagojevich worked to persuade Yugoslavia to release three U.S. soldiers held there during the Kosovo conflict.
Saberi, a 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen, was arrested in late January and initially accused of working without press credentials. But an Iranian judge leveled a far more serious allegation against her last week, charging her with spying for the United States.
Iran's judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi on Monday ordered a full investigation into Saberi's case during the appeals process. He said the probe should be "precise, quick and fair," according to the official news agency IRNA.
Ayatollah Shahroudi's order Monday comes a day after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saberi, a North Dakota native who worked for NPR and the BBC, should be allowed to offer a full defense during her appeal.
Iran has released very few facts about Saberi's case and initially said she was arrested in January for working without press credentials. The government later charged the 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen with spying for the United States and convicted her in a one-day trial behind closed doors.
The journalist's Iranian-born father, Reza Saberi, has said his daughter was not provided a proper defense during her trial. He called the proceedings "a mock trial" during an interview with CNN on Sunday from Iran, where he traveled with his wife to seek his daughter's release.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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