Major news organizations demand access to U.S. journalist jailed in Iran

Oddly, neither NBC nor CNN chose to sign this joint statement regarding Roxana Saberi, a native of North Dakota and, for the past six years, freelance journalist living in Iran. Right now she is sitting in a Tehran prison on what almost certainly (if prior history is any guide) are falsified charges, and no one knows what's going on with her.

This woman has been locked up for six weeks in a country that is starting to give the Taliban a run for their money in the mistreating-women department.

UPDATE: My friend John Rinkenbaugh, who hired Saberi to her first job in Fargo, reports there's a good chance she'll be released, uh, soon.

MAJOR WORLDWIDE NEWS ORGANIZATIONS PRESS FOR INFORMATION REGARDING AMERICAN JOURNALIST ROXANA SABERI BEING HELD IN IRAN

NPR, ABC, BBC, FOX, WALL STREET JOURNAL, PBS, FEATURE STORY NEWS ISSUE JOINT STATEMENT

Washington, D.C.; March 10, 2009 – On behalf of the family, friends and colleagues of Roxana Saberi, and the many American citizens who share our concerns, we urgently request a series of steps be taken in the case of Roxana Saberi, an independent journalist and dual citizen of the United States and Iran, who is being held in Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran.

We now ask that one or more international organizations that have responsibilities and rights under the Geneva Conventions be permitted access to Roxana immediately to ascertain her health and well-being and to determine the conditions under which she is held.

We now ask that the specific charges against Roxana Saberi be made public. If no charges are filed, we now urge her immediate release and ask that she be given permission to return to her home country, the United States.

For the past six years, Ms. Saberi has resided in Iran, where she is an established and respected professional journalist. She has filed for NPR, ABC, BBC and others. Before her arrest, she was pursuing a master's degree in Iranian studies and international relations and writing a book about Iran.

On Thursday, February 26, nearly a month after the actual event, we learned that Roxana was detained by Iranian authorities in late January. Since then she has been denied contact with family, friends and associates. On February 10, briefly and under apparent duress, she contacted her family to inform them of her arrest and detention and requested their silence. On Sunday, March 1, her family revealed the story to their home town press in Fargo, ND, and to NPR, given their growing concern over the lack of contact from Roxana.

Roxana Saberi is a U. S. citizen, born in New Jersey, raised in North Dakota and educated in Minnesota. She has many friends and colleagues across the nation. We are deeply concerned about her well-being and the deprivation of her rights, and we will continue to press for action until we are successful.

Signed,

Vivian Schiller

President & CEO, NPR

David L. Westin

President, ABC News

Jon Williams

World Editor, BBC News

Paula Kerger

President & CEO, PBS

Robert Thomson

Editor-in-Chief, Wall Street Journal

John Stack

VP Newsgathering, The Fox News Channel

Simon Marks

President, Feature Story News