US journalist in Iran had secret report on Iraq war

[kpete]

Source: AFP


US journalist in Iran had secret report on Iraq war
AFP

by Hiedeh Farmani Hiedeh Farmani – 2 hrs 10 mins ago

TEHRAN (AFP) – A lawyer for US-born reporter Roxana Saberi, freed this week from a Tehran jail, said on Wednesday the spy charges she had faced arose after she obtained a classified report on the US war on Iraq.

"She had a report about the US attack on Iraq prepared by the strategic research centre at the (Iranian) presidency," Saleh Nikbakht told AFP.

"The research centre deemed the report as classified. But she had not used it at all." Nikbakht did not say how Saberi had managed to gain access to the confidential report.

Saberi's other lawyer, Abdolsamad Khoramshahi, said the journalist received a suspended two-year jail term from the appeal court -- the stipulated punishment for such a crime.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090513/wl_afp/iranusmediajustice

[pleah]

1. K&R

[Hissyspit]

2. U.S. Reporter (Roxana Saberi) in Iran 'Held Secret Report on Iraq War'

Source: AFP

US reporter in Iran 'held secret report on Iraq war
Submitted by davidswanson on Wed, 2009-05-13 13:24. Iran
By AFP

A lawyer for US-born reporter Roxana Saberi, freed this week from a Tehran jail, said on Wednesday the spy charges she had faced arose after she obtained a classified report on the US war on Iraq.

"She had a report about the US attack on Iraq prepared by the strategic research centre at the (Iranian) presidency," Saleh Nikbakht told AFP. "The research centre deemed the report as classified. But she had not used it at all."

Nikbakht did not say how Saberi had managed to gain access to the confidential report.

Saberi's other lawyer, Abdolsamad Khoramshahi, said Saberi received a suspended two-year jail term from the appeal court as that is the stipulated punishment for such a crime. "She was accused of accessing secret documents. If these are used, there is a 10-year jail term, if not, then two years," he said.

Read more: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/42566

[Baby Snooks]

3. So in other words, she was spying...

Spies who spy and get caught and claim they are journalists sometimes get lucky and someone believes they are just journalists. Sounds like she got lucky. Spies who spy and get caught buying alcohol in a country where alcohol is banned aren't too smart. Most journalists are smart enough to know better. Particularly in Iran. Journalists don't have diplomatic immunity. Particularly in Islamic countries. Which is an indication of her being a spy instead of a journalist.

Our world really would be a much better world without the CIA.

[Hissyspit]

4. No, that doesn't make her a spy.

[The Stranger]

13. I, for one, would like to hear why it doesn't.

[Ian David]

17. If she were spying, Bob Novak would have told us by now. n/t

[floridablue]

5. It appears to me that

rich daddy's little princess was trying to be a spy and wasn't very good at it. Must of been a heck of a payoff.

[ShortnFiery]

6. Birthplace: Fargo, North Dakota. Didn't she consider that to be ONE big red flag?

Perhaps her journalism career wasn't going as well as she'd like. With her good looks (former Miss North Dakota, 1994), perhaps it was "a calculated risk" to put herself ON THE LINE?

No matter what, something tells me that a future career as a FOX "news model" is a distinct possibility for former Miss North Dakota, journalist of Iranian heritage, one each. :eyes:

[Hissyspit]

7. She's been a very good reporter for a while now and just because someone gave a journalist some

information (that's called a source although it is not clear to me how she 'gained access') to a journalist does not make them a "daddy's little princess spy." What's with the right-wing talking points?

[ShortnFiery]

8. Something doesn't smell right ... I think her even being in Country was either

a death wish, or a calculated risk. Thank Allah that she's beautiful and has many people who had advocated on her behalf.

BTW, does anyone give a shit abou the two "average looking" young women journalists being held by North Korea? Anyone? Didn't think so.

[Hissyspit]

9. Actually, I give a shit about all journalists who getting arrested and held.

Larisa Alexandrovna tries to keep tabs on all of them in all countries at her at-largely blog. It can be difficult.

[endarkenment]

11. I'm glad she got out but there is a problem here with

the theory that she was just a journalist doing her job. A journalist who accesses classified documents illegally, especially a foreign journalist who is a resident of a country openly hostile to the interests of the host country, is blurring the line between journalism and espionage and making it very difficult for other more legitimate journalists to do their work. She was not even a credentialed journalist, which makes her activities in Iran even more suspect. I am not condemning her, I think she is a very brave and quite foolish person who is lucky to have gotten out of this alive, let alone with essentially nothing more than a swift kick in the ass guiding her out the door. However, as stated, what she did here is going to make the efforts of legitimate journalists in Iran that much more difficult.

[Hissyspit]

12. Of course we need more details on what actually happened here, but I'm having a problem

with the knee-jerk reactions to the case considering how little we know.

[endarkenment]

14. The reaction is to the purported new facts in this case.

If those purported new facts turn out not to be facts, then I'll revise my opinion. Meanwhile, this affair has not quite done a 180 from its original angle: bad Iranians punish beautiful reporter, but it is not far off from a complete about-face, from what we know of course. Perhaps it was the original reaction that was the knee-jerk?

[John Q. Citizen]

10. I thought the rw talking point would be bad bad Iran falsly arrests poor little journalist?

Of course, I don't know either way what the real deal is.

But i'm keeping an open mind to the possibility Iran had a legitimate beef with her.

[JonLP24]

15. This news is a day old

Her lawyer said something like 'she made a mistake, she had a document she wasn't supposed to have'

MSNBC yesturday confirmed this as well as many other sources. Even her lawyer says she had the document.

[JonLP24]

16. This news is a day old

Her lawyer said something like 'she made a mistake, she had a document she wasn't supposed to have'

MSNBC yesturday confirmed this as well as many other sources. Even her lawyer says she had the document.