ROXANA SABERI URGES IRAN TO FREE JAILED AID WORKER

Washington TV
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June 25 2009

Washington, 25 June (WashingtonTV)–Iranian-American journalist Roxana
Saberi, whose nearly four month imprisonment in Tehran garnered
massive media attention, on Wednesday called for the release of a
former cellmate, who remains behind bars.

Saberi was speaking at a press conference in Paris to support
humanitarian worker Silva Harotonian, an Iranian citizen of Armenian
descent, who was detained last year in Tehran.

Wednesday marked the one-year anniversary of Harotonian’s
imprisonment. She was charged with trying to wage a "soft" revolution
in Iran, and sentenced in January to three years in prison.

"When I was freed, I left a lot of people behind, a lot of innocent
people. So I hope that in some small way I can use my experiences to
help others like Silva, whether they’re in Iran or in other countries,"
Saberi said, according to the Associated Press.

Saberi said that Harotonian, whom she shared a cell with in Tehran’s
Evin Prison for several weeks, gave her "a lot of strength."

Also joining Saberi in appealing for Harotonian’s release were Karim
Lahiji, president of the International Federation for the League of
Human Rights; Hadi Ghaemi, director of the International Campaign for
Human Rights in Iran; and Robert Pearson, president of the U.S.-based
International Research and Exchanges Board.

Harotonian was administering a maternal and child health project in
Iran for the International Research and Exchanges Board.

"I know Silva is innocent. I have studied the court document," Ghaemi
was quoted by Fox News as saying.

Pearson said that despite the unrest in Iran following its disputed
presidential election, he had not lost hope in chances for Harotonian’s
release. According to Fox News, her second appealing is pending.

Saberi described the Iranian government’s crackdown on post-election
protests as "very inhuman".

"I’m very disturbed and distressed by what I’ve seen in Iran in the
past ten days," she said, according to AFP.

Sources: Associated Press, Fox News, Agence France-Presse