TEHRAN, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Iran's President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad on Sunday called on the judiciary to respect a jailed U.S.-Iranian
reporter's rights, the official IRNA news agency reported.
In a letter issued by Ahmadinejad's office to
Tehran's prosecutor, Ahmadinejad asked the judiciary to preserve justice in
considering the accusations directed against the U.S.-Iranian journalist, Roxana
Saberi.
"Referring to the president's insistence, make sure
that all the legal processes to consider the accusations are carried out
carefully and on the basis of justice," the letter said.
Addressing Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi, the
letter asked him to "personally make sure that the accused will enjoy all
freedom and legal rights to defend (herself) against the charges and no small
rights (of her) will be violated."
Iran's revolutionary court sentenced the U.S.-Iranian
journalist to eight years in jail on charges of espionage, her lawyer Abdolsamad
Khorramshahi said on Saturday.
"According to Iran's law, an appeal can be made
against the verdict within 20 days and I will act on this in due course,"
Khorramshahi was quoted by IRNA.
Saberi, 31-year-old, was arrested in the second half
of January 2009 on charges of espionage for the United States.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago, April 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack
Obama, who is here for a regional summit, is "deeply disappointed" by Iran's
sentencing of an American-Iranian journalist, the White House said Saturday.
Roxana Saberi, who had worked for some international news
organizations in Iran for years, was sentenced to eight years in prison by an
Iranian court on Saturday on charges of spying for the United States.Full story
PORT OF SPAIN,
Trinidad and Tobago, April 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton said here on Saturday that the administration would continue to "raise
concerns" to Tehran over an American journalist, who has been sentenced for
eight years in Iranian prison.
"I am deeply disappointed by the reported sentencing of
Roxana Saberi by the Iranian judiciary. We will continue to vigorously raise our
concerns to the Iranian government," Clinton said in a statement issued from
Port of Spain, where she is accompanying President Barack Obama to attend the
Fifth Summit of the Americas. Full story
