Saberi Goes on Hunger Strike, Chicago-Area Students Rally in Support
Roxana Saberi's parents say she is protesting, despite their objections.
April 23, 2009— -- Roxana Saberi, an Iranian-American freelance journalist sentenced to eight years in an Iranian prison, begins her hunger strike today as students at her U.S. alma mater rally in her support.
Saberi was arrested in late January on charges of buying alcohol, which later turned into allegations of espionage.
When ABC News' George Stephonopoulos met with Saberi's parents in Tehran Wednesday, Reza and Akiko Saberi said their daughter was in good spirits but that she refused to heed their advice to avoid a hunger strike.
"I tried to dissuade her but she said, 'not this time,'" Reza Saberi told Stephonopoulos. "She is, this time, determined to go on a hunger strike because she says she doesn't deserve to be in there in the prison, she hasn't done anything wrong. She should not be there."
In ABC News' exclusive interview Wednesday, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declined to say whether his government would release Saberi, 31, who has been behind bars for more than two months now.
"I am not a judge, and I do not pass judgment over judicial cases," Ahmadinejad said in the interview with Stephanopoulos at his presidential compound. "In Iran, the judiciary is independent. I have stressed [that], like others, she should be accorded her full rights."
Following Saberi's conviction on Saturday, Ahmadinejad said she should be allowed to offer a full defense during her appeal. Ahmadinejad, who is up for re-election in June, said he will likely make sure she is not abused.
Saberi's parents have hired new lawyers for her appeal, with Iran's Nobel Peace Prize laureate and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi said to be joining the case as a defense attorney. Saberi's appeal could be decided within a week.
President Obama has said he is confident that Saberi, whose parents have moved from North Dakota to Tehran since Saberi's arrest, was not involved in any espionage, and that he is "gravely concerned" for her safety.
Ahmadinejad, when asked whether he would release her as a humanitarian, good-will gesture, said, "I think Mr. Obama, as a sign of change and also to encourage friendship, should allow laws to be processed fairly and allow the judiciary to carry out its duties. I am sure she is not being mistreated."
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