Roxana Saberi

Help Free Roxana Saberi

Join feminists and human rights activist worldwide in strongly urging the Iranian government to commute the sentence of journalist Roxana Saberi.

Saberi was initially arrested in February, purportedly for working without press credentials. In March, she was charged with espionage and being an American spy. She was sentenced to 8 years in prison after a one day, closed-door trial.

Iran's Nobel Laureate Dr. Shirin Ebadi will defend Roxana Saberi during her appeal. We must stand behind Dr. Ebadi and Saberi at this critical time!

No evidence against Saberi has been released by the Iranian government. It is increasingly evident that the charges against her are baseless and reports indicate that she may have been forced to make incriminating statements while imprisoned.

Write to urge Iran's reversal of Saberi's sentence and her immediate release from prison.

We have asked for your help before to seek the release by the Iranian government of Dr. Shirin Ebadi's secretary, Jinus Sobhani. Your messages made a difference and Sobhani was released. We are asking you to help again.

Urge Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; Iran's Head of the Judiciary, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi; the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay; and the U.N. and Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon to intervene immediately to free Roxana Saberi from prison and commute her unjust sentence.

For Women's Lives,

Eleanor Smeal
President

P.S. Now is the time to stand up for fair trials and global human rights. Sign up to receive our global alerts.

Jailed U.S. journalist on hunger strike, father says

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- A U.S. journalist jailed in Iran for espionage is on a hunger strike, and plans to keep it up until she is freed, her father told CNN on Saturday.

Roxana Saberi records video in Tehran, Iran, in this photo taken in September 2003.

Roxana Saberi, 31, was sentenced last week to eight years in prison after a one-day trial that was closed to the public. Her father, Reza Saberi, confirmed the hunger strike, saying she started it on Tuesday.

"She was supposed to see her lawyer on Thursday but the lawyer could not get permission from the courts to go see her," Reza Saberi said. "She says she will continue the strike until she is free from prison."

Reza Saberi said he spoke to his daughter in a one-minute call, and "she did not give us the chance to tell her not to do it."

President Obama and other U.S. and international officials have denounced the Iranian court's actions.

Saberi's legal team has said it will appeal her conviction. Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi has ordered the head of Iran's Justice Department to make sure the appeals process is quick and fair, according to Iranian state media.

Iranian officials initially said Saberi was held for buying a bottle of wine. The Foreign Ministry later said she was detained for reporting without proper credentials.

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Saberi, who is from North Dakota, has been living in Iran since 2003, said the Committee to Protect Journalists, a journalists' advocacy group.

She has freelanced for National Public Radio and other news organizations, and was writing a book about Iranian culture.

Iranian authorities revoked her press credentials in 2006, but Saberi continued to file short news items without permission, the journalists' group said.

Saberi was detained in January, although no formal charges were disclosed. On April 9, word emerged that Saberi had been charged with espionage.

"Without press credentials and under the name of being a reporter, she was carrying out espionage activities," Hassan Haddad, a deputy public prosecutor, told the Iranian Students News Agency.

Authorities also said Saberi had confessed. Her father said he thinks she was coerced into making damaging statements.

Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian human-rights activist, has joined Saberi's legal team. Ebadi won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2003.

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All About Iran • National Public Radio Inc.

Juan Mann, One Love

For my daughter

The Sound of Music in Antwerp station. Image: theinspirationroom.com

From: View on Canadian Art

This past weekend, we received THIS video, in which performers break into a fantastically kitsch song-and-dance rendition of Do-Re-Mi from the Sound of Music, charming an unsuspecting public in Antwerp station.

Now that artists are taking to the streets more than ever in ways not specifically revealed as art projects, we wonder what the effects of this trend will be.

Up! May 29th!!

Pixar's newest! You gotta see it!!
Every once in a while I create a diversion, for the lightness of things!
Enjoy life!!

AND, as my daughter has posted: THIS movie, debuting on October 16th!!

Enjoy the Ride

As a friend sent to me today as an Easter wish, so I also share this with everyone!

M-m-m-m-m, blessings for us all!

Seven Pounds

It is a movie that caught my eye in the supermarket, or in an ad somewhere_ not the theatre. I haven't really been into a theatre in a long time... This movie I rented and watched tonight by myself, big mistake I think.

My first gut reaction of it is that it is a dangerous film.I think there is misguided earnestness in the story and in the intentions of Will Smith. You are a fine actor Will and I have been watching you grow up and mature beautifully since "Prince of Bel air."

To me, this story is about the sensuous indulgence of a man's grief; the dark addictive side of pain. Perhaps it represents what men do because they cannot give birth; bleed honestly giving life. We cannot replicate Christ's sacrifice and I know no kind of love this story truly points to.

Now, if I were that woman in real life my view might be much different. My own real life view, is this is some form of abandonment of the memory of one love lost; a story that perpetuates trauma.

Wrong movie to see right before bed!