Lawyer: U.S.-Iranian reporter to be freed soon_English

TEHRAN, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The lawyer of the U.S.-Iranian female reporter on espionage charges said Monday the reporter will be freed soon, the local ISNA news agency reported.

"My client has been sentenced to a two-year suspended term and she will be freed on Monday," Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of Roxana Saberi, was quoted as saying.

Nikbakht said "I was notified of the sentence in person, on the basis of which the verdict of the preliminary court was breached and my client was sentenced to a two-year suspended term for five years and she will be freed on Monday."

Saberi was born in the United States and her father is an Iranian. She was arrested in Iran in the second half of January 2009 on charges of spying for the United States.

Last month, Iran's revolutionary court sentenced her to eight years in jail on charges of espionage.

Reza Saberi, father of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, speaks to the media during a break outside the court in Tehran where his daughter's case was being heard May 10, 2009. An Iranian court began a session to hear an appeal by Roxana Saberi against her eight-year prison sentence for espionage, and her lawyer predicted on Sunday it would be "substantially" reduced.

Reza Saberi, father of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, speaks to the media during a break outside the court in Tehran where his daughter's case was being heard May 10, 2009. An Iranian court began a session to hear an appeal by Roxana Saberi against her eight-year prison sentence for espionage, and her lawyer predicted on Sunday it would be "substantially" reduced.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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