May 4, 2009
Editor’s Note: Arsalan Iftikhar is an international human rights lawyer, founder of www.TheMuslimGuy.com and contributing editor for Islamica Magazine in Washington.
by Arsalan Iftikhar | BIO
Founder, TheMuslimGuy.com
To the 65.8 million wonderful people of Iran:
As an American Muslim human rights lawyer, I write to you today to kindly ask for the immediate release of American journalist Roxana Saberi. In order to continue the advancement of peaceful dialogue between our two nations, it is an absolute moral (and religious) imperative to release Ms. Saberi immediately so that she can continue her work in journalism and continue to give a voice to the majority of voiceless Iranian people to the rest of the world.
Roxana Saberi was first arrested in January 2009 in Iran; her family was told it was for simply buying a bottle of wine — an act banned under the country’s Islamic legal code.
However, Iranian prosecutors have since then decided to accuse her of working as a journalist ‘without a valid press card,’ and finally, last month, of being a ‘spy’ for the United States.
And between January and March 2009, Ms. Saberi was only able to contact her family in the United States twice, according to international human rights group Amnesty International.
“The fact that Roxana Saberi faced a shifting tide of accusations from the time of her arrest until her trial is an indication that the Iranian authorities were looking for any excuse to detain her,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Program for Amnesty International. “There is no reason for holding Roxana Saberi, unless the Iranian authorities can provide convincing evidence that she committed a recognizable criminal offense…”
Continue Reading Arsalan’s May 2009 CNN Column Here…
