Lawyers appeal journalist’s sentence

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Lawyers for jailed journalist Roxana Saberi say they pursued a vigorous and lengthy defense of their client at an appeals court hearing Sunday that they hope could shave time off the Iranian-American’s eight-year prison sentence.

No Iranian official has indicated the longtime North Dakota resident would be released from prison any time soon, but the lawyers said they were optimistic that the terms of her punishment would be amended.

Iran’s Revolutionary Court last month convicted and sentenced Saberi, 32, to jail on an espionage charge. Authorities allege she has confessed to gathering information from Iranian officials and passing it on to U.S. intelligence operatives.

But her family and legal representatives say any confession was signed only under duress after she had been held for weeks in a solitary confinement wing of Tehran, Iran’s Evin prison without access to an attorney. Her April 14 trial lasted less than an hour, and no evidence was publicly presented.

Saberi’s supporters hope an appeals court will reduce or even commute her sentence.

“We had enough time to make a defense, and I am optimistic and hope to see a fundamental change in the verdict within two or three days,” said Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, her lead defense attorney.

Saleh Nikbakht, another member of Saberi’s defense team, said she appeared in high spirits during the hearing, which followed reports that she had begun and ended a hunger strike while in prison. “She was very good and seemed healthy,” he said.

Saberi was allowed to speak in her own defense. “She did not accept the charges and said, ‘I confessed because I was hopeful that I may receive my freedom quickly,’ ” Nikbakht said.