Saberi tricked - dad
2009-04-18 16:11
Tehran - US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi, who has been sentenced to eight years in jail by a Tehran court for spying, was "tricked" into confessing, her father told AFP on Saturday.
"Roxana said in court that her earlier confessions were not true and she told me she had been tricked into believing that she would be released if she co-operated," Reza Saberi said.
His comments came after Roxana Saberi's lawyer confirmed that the 31-year-old had been sentenced to eight years behind bars by a revolutionary court on charges of spying for the United States.
Saberi did not say when he had talked to his daughter, who was first detained in January.
"Her denial is documented in her case, but apparently they did not pay attention to it," Reza Saberi said. "We are very shocked and we were not expecting it.
"We were hoping for six months and then clemency."
The verdict came despite calls by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for Saberi's release and President Barack Obama's diplomatic overtures to Iran after three decades of severed ties.
It is the harshest sentence meted out by an Iranian court to a dual-national on security charges.