Iran court to review Saberi case today – lawyer

TEHRAN (Reuters) – An Iranian court will hear  Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi’s appeal against her  eight-year prison sentence for espionage today, her lawyer  said on Saturday.

The 32-year-old freelance reporter was detained three months  ago, and sentenced on April 18 on charges of spying for the  United States, Iran’s arch enemy.

The media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has said her  conviction was a warning to foreign journalists working in Iran  ahead of its presidential election in June.

The case could complicate Washington’s efforts at  reconciliation with the Islamic Republic after three decades of  mutual mistrust.

The judiciary said on Tuesday the higher court would meet in  a session closed to the public, but did not announce a date.

Saberi’s lawyer Abdolsamad Khorramshahi told Reuters the  hearing would be today. “The verdict could come next week or  any other time. It is not clear when,” he said.

Khorramshahi has expressed optimism that Saberi will be  acquitted or have her sentence reduced, after President Mahmoud  Ahmadinejad publicly called on the judiciary to ensure she was  granted her full legal rights.

Saberi’s father Reza, 68, said he did not know whether he  would be allowed to attend the proceedings.

He moved to the United States in the early 1970s but has  returned to Tehran with his wife to follow their daughter’s  case. “We hope our daughter will be released … we are  hopeful,” he told Reuters.

On Wednesday, he said his daughter had ended a two-week  hunger strike in Tehran’s Evin prison, saying she was “very  weak.” The judiciary has denied that she refused food and said  she was in good health.

Saberi, US-born but a citizen of both the United States  and Iran, was arrested in January for working in Iran after her  press credentials expired in 2006, and was charged with  espionage later. She has reported for the British Broadcasting  Corporation and US National Public Radio.

The United States says the charges are baseless and has  demanded her release.