US reporter's appeal to be heard next week in Iran

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
An Iranian appeals court will hear the case of an American journalist convicted of spying for the United States next week, the judiciary spokesman said Tuesday. Roxana Saberi, whose father says she has been on a hunger strike for two weeks, was convicted last month of passing intelligence to the US and sentenced to eight years in prison after a one-day trial behind closed doors. "Her case has been referred to an appeals court where it is being studied. A date has been set for next week," judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi told reporters Tuesday, without specifying the exact date. "Experts from the Bar Association, the Intelligence Ministry and the Prosecutor's Office have been invited to attend the court session." Jamshidi denied that Saberi was on a hunger strike or that she was hospitalized in Evin prison where she has been held since her arrest in January.