[R-G] Ahmadinejad Intervenes on Behalf of Roxana Saberi and Hossein Derakhshan

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8006861.stm>
Iran leader urges reporter rights

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said an Iranian-American
journalist jailed for spying must have her legal right to defend
herself.

The request came in a letter from his office to Tehran's prosecutor,
state media reported, a day after Roxana Saberi was jailed for eight
years.

Our Tehran correspondent says it is an unusual intervention by Mr Ahmadinejad.

US President Barack Obama has expressed concern at the 31-year-old's
sentencing after a secret one-day trial in Tehran.

Mr Obama urged Tehran to free Ms Saberi, saying he was "deeply
concerned" for her safety, and adding that the US would contact Iran
about the case through Swiss intermediaries.

"I have complete confidence that she was not engaging in any sort of
espionage," he told reporters in Trinidad where he attended a regional
summit.

Roxana Saberi, who was arrested in January and went on trial this
week, denies the charge and plans to go on hunger strike, her father
Reza has said.

Her lawyer has said he will lodge an appeal.

Ms Saberi's mother Akiko expressed concern for her daughter's health,
saying she was "very, very frail."

She said it was hard to believe how a country could treat a human
being like this.

President's letter

Mr Ahmadinejad said the rights of Ms Saberi and jailed
Iranian-Canadian blogger Hossein Derakhshan, who has been behind bars
since November, must not be violated in any way.

"Please take the necessary measures to ensure that the process of
examining the charges against the aforementioned individuals are being
carried out carefully and fairness, justice and regulations are
observed," he wrote in the letter to prosecutors.

"Please, personally observe the process to ensure that the defendants
are allowed all legal rights and freedom in defending themselves and
that their rights are not violated even by one iota," reported Iranian
official government news agency Irna.

The verdict came despite calls by the Obama administration for Ms
Saberi's release and diplomatic overtures to Iran after three decades
of severed ties.

Hardliners hijack?

It raises suspicions over whether the case has been hijacked by
hardliners within the Iranian government, eager to sabotage any
reconciliation, the BBC's Jon Leyne reports from Tehran.

He says it is not clear if the Iranian president is suggesting due
legal process has not been followed, or if he is generally emphasising
the importance of fairness in such sensitive cases.

Senators from Ms Saberi's home state of North Dakota described the
court ruling as a shocking miscarriage of justice that would damage
Iran's international credibility.

She has reported for a number of foreign news organisations including
the BBC, NPR and Fox News.

The journalist originally faced the less serious accusation of buying
alcohol, and later of working as a journalist without a valid press
card.

Then, in a period of less than two weeks, the charge of spying was
introduced, and she was tried by the Revolutionary Court and
sentenced.

A US-Iranian national, Ms Saberi has spent six years in Iran studying
and writing a book.

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/2009/04/090419_an_saberi_ahmadinejad.shtml>

<http://www.irna.ir/View/FullStory/?NewsId=443175>