Father of journalist in Iran waiting for word

Fargo, N.D. (AP)

March 7, 2009 12:38 AM

In a file picture taken on Septmber 17, 2003, US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi takes footage in Tehran. Iran on March 3, 2009, confirmed it was holding Saberi in Tehran's Evin prison but did not reveal the charges. American media, citing Saberi's father, reported last week that the US-born journalist was arrested in late January on charges of buying alcohol, which is prohibited in the Islamic republic.
BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images

The father of a journalist in prison in Iran says he hopes to hear soon that she will be released.

Reza Saberi said Friday he has talked to his lawyer twice and the lawyer has an appointment to see his daughter, Roxana, on Saturday afternoon. He hopes the lawyer will find out when she will be freed.

A spokesman for the Iranian judiciary said earlier this week that 31-year-old Roxana Saberi was being held in Evin prison north of the capital, Tehran. The Foreign Ministry said she had engaged in "illegal" activities because she continued working in Iran after the government revoked her press credentials in 2006. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday called for Saberi's release.

Reza Saberi said he did not know what conditions might be placed on his daughter's release, including whether she would be free to leave the country.

Saberi in Iran — Roxana Saberi with former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami.
Photo courtesy of the Saberi family

"I think it (her release) will happen. On what conditions, that is what we have to find out," he said.

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