Roxana: Girl Next Door in Tehran

Roxana Saberi retains an Iranian citizenship and was operating with expired press credentials for an extended period during her years in Iran. Then, she was caught buying illegal alcoholic beverage.
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Did she realize she was in Iran and not in Los Angeles?
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Still, I agree that the regime has held her for too long. The conditions couldn't be as bad there as Gitmo or Gaza, but her trial should have been speedier than this, and the evidence necessary to commit to a sentence proffered.
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BTW, this still doesn't give anyone a causus belli to drop bombs on Tehran starting WW III.

Nick,

I see, so her American citizenship means nothing to you as well as the Iranian regime. Nice.
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That said, even if she was guilty of purchasing alcohol, I fail to see how that warrents a charge of espianage. Same thing goes for expiring press credentials.
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Likewise, your attempt at humor falls flat on the conditions of Evin Prison. Zahra Kazemi didn't just 'die' in that prison. Here is what the autopsy on Ms. Kazemi found:

Evidence of a very brutal rape.
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A skull fracture, two broken fingers, missing fingernails, a crushed big toe and a broken nose.
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Severe abdominal bruising, swelling behind the head and a bruised shoulder.
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Deep scratches on the neck and evidence of flogging on the legs.
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Worse yet, the Iranian government has refused to turn over the body to Canadian authorities so that it can be returned to Ms. Kazemi's family.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/kazemi/

I am in no way an advocate of the way the Iranian government treats its own people. Obviously, the regime is afraid of dissent and deals with it violently at times. This is a horrible thing. So is starving 1.5 million people over 2 years. Ask the Israeli government about that when they not busy stealing silverware, raping or taking bribes.
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You are twisting the facts here. Iran did not charge her with espionage until after she was brought on a much lesser crime and things were uncovered, according to the government. At least, there, her family was able to visit her and she does have legal counsel. Not the same can be said of Gaza or Guantanamo Bay.

Oh and by the way, Jacob, I know people who stayed in Evin prison. The story you supplied is horrible and deplorable. Let's remind ourselves that we have instances of police brutality here in the United States. Her beating happened during the interrogation stage, not after. Roxana Saberi has been safe, but imprisoned, for 8 months now. Like I said, that is too long, but not completely out of left field.
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In most countries, they kill for treason.

persianadvocate, you are a mouthpiece for torture and terror.
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I hope you rot in hell.

Nick,

Let me make sure I have this correct. You're not advocating for the Iranian government... but, you're equating the jailing, raping, and beating to death of a journalist with police brutality. Let me try to make this connection clear. First, you're equating a reporter with accused criminals. Then, you're stating that the, um, I'm not really sure how to define this, accused crime of being a reporter, as equal to the abuse of interrogating accused criminals.
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I'm trying to wrap my head around the idea that journalism is an acceptable crime here. Granted, you've been reading much of TIME's mid-east blog, but even I wouldn't go as far as declaring what Andrew, Scott, and Tim publish as criminal.
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I mean really. You're justifying Zahra Kazemi's beating, rape, and murder, as part of an interrogation, again, of a journalist. This is not someone suspected of being a violent individual, suspected terrorist, but a reporter. I mean whether or not one believed in the Bush Administration's incarceration and/or policy of torture, and I'm not one of them, I can hardly see how this gets translated into the brutality used against the press. The way you're writing here sounds like if one day these regimes up and decide to throw one of TIME's bloggers in to prison and they wind up dead, well hey, its just part of the 'interrogation'?
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No wonder Scott's fawning commentary above is written as is. Best to stay on the good side of a regime that makes this group dissapear.
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What's even more mind boggling is that you're attempting to defend Iran's government claiming that well hey, Ms. Saberi, who has been languishing in prison for eight months, on a purchase of alcohol charge (let's see how rational that judicial decision is considered in its own right), now, after eight months of incarceration without a trial, is being brought up on charges of espianage.
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Whew, who knew that going out for a bottle of wine or a quick brewski would land you in court for high crimes that are usually associated with life imprisonment if not being brought in front of a firing squad (that assumes she even lives to the trial date).
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But you're not defending what the Iranian government did. Nah. And of course its not like Iran's government to falsely accuse its citizens of espionage. Never occured before?

To jacob,

Hey dud, where did you get all your information? You telling us all these fabricated lies; then at the end you are saying that the government of Iran denied returning her body to Canadian authorities for an autopsy. If they denied as such which by the way they did, wouldn't they stop any autopsy result released or at least wouldn't they manipulated the autopsy results. Tell us since when you had your hand on that autopsy result. People like you are undermining the struggle of Iranian people for freedom. Stop fabricating the news and stop interfering with Iranian affairs. No one is the fan of this regime in iran. but at the same time no one is seeking for lies and fabrication of news either.

Are you referring to a physician who was trying to get his Canadian citizenship? People memory is too short. Let me remind you that Iraqis whom escape Iraq and they were in opposition of Saddam Hassan at the time were the ones who tell the western media that sadam has mass destruction weapons and he is about to use them against west. And the danger is imminent. You know what their intention was? They wanted money and american citizenship. Do you know what the consequence of their lies and fabrications? More than 100000 dead and more than 500000 people have been displacing from their homes. People should stop deceiving the public opinion and stop fabricating the news.

This is ridiculous. It is time for the Obama administration to step in. It is one thing, when an Iranian-born journalist, who has obtained American citizenship is arrested on spying charges. It is totally another when an American-born journalist, who happens to have Iranian citizenship through her father is taken in on trumped up charges. Does anyone really believe the charges of purchasing alcohol? Come on, get real!! If she had been someone not of Iranian descent, the regime would not have touch her, or at worse, arrested and immediately deported her. Instead, she has been held for eight months! And did anyone else notice that all these arrests are of women!?! What gives? It seems like the Iranian thugs are impotent, because they attack women without mercy! Persianadvocate, there is no excuse for this brutal regime's actions. As bad as the Bush administration was, it is nothing compared to the brutal thugs of the Revolutionary Guard. In some ways, I think this is a message aimed at the reformers in their own country. The Iranian regime is telling these people, that if we can do this to someone with foreign citizenship, think about what we can do to you.

Jacob,
So long as you fabricate, twist reality, or state your opinion as fact, I will side with the truth. In this way, and I will use Israeli logic so you understand, my pseudo-advocacy of a regime that has killed a grandparent, two uncles, and cousins of mine is your fault. I won't stand for your lies and BS, because as another reader astutely pointed out, these kinds of things stand in the way of the Iranian people overcoming a brutal regime.
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Iranians have, more a basically uncut period since 1953, suffered at the hands of one brutal government or another. We are well aware that this regime has offered an iron fist when it comes to dissent.
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Certain factions, however, know that using press releases like this demonize the Iranians. The next natural step is for the vast public who read those press releases to begin equating the face of Ahmadinejad with 70 million others.

Spob wrote:
"persianadvocate, you are a mouthpiece for torture and terror.
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I hope you rot in hell"
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I wonder if a genius like you understands what they read. But thank you for your wholly idiotic sentiment, which unsurprisingly failed to accurately describe anything I've stood for here on these TIME blogs. No one has ever accused the Iranian regime of torturing or terrorizing anyone. This is the type of bullsh*t people like you like to spread all over the media in various forms. Shame on worthless people like you.

Softron,

I provided links to the articles that dealt with the death of Ms. Kazemi, why don't you try reading them first before telling me what's true or false.

Here are a few more links for your research:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3085551.stm
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3905319.stm
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http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/13/world/canadian-photographer-iran-detained-dies.html?scp=2&sq=Zahra+Kazemi&st=nyt
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http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/24/world/canada-recalls-envoy-from-iran-after-burial-of-detained-reporter.html?scp=6&sq=Zahra+Kazemi&st=nyt
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http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/31/world/iranian-admits-that-journalist-was-murdered-while-detained.html?scp=9&sq=Zahra+Kazemi&st=nyt
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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/19/world/iran-stops-trial-in-the-murder-of-a-journalist.html?scp=18&sq=Zahra+Kazemi&st=nyt
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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/25/world/iranian-court-clears-agent-in-death-of-journalist.html?scp=19&sq=Zahra+Kazemi&st=nyt
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http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9900E3D8103FF932A35757C0A9639C8B63&scp=25&sq=Zahra+Kazemi&st=nyt
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Wow Nick, no wonder Ikea was out of tables this weekend, it appears that you've grabbed up the whole inventory lot to advocate for the Iranian regime.
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Either you're lying about the harm allegedly suffered by your family by the Iranian government, or despite that harm, are attempting to continue the government's coverups for other families.
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Either way Nick, your arguments fall flat. Your claim that 'press releases' are only impediments to real freedom for Iranians, brought about by select groups seeking to 'demonize' Iran trivializes the violence used by the Iranian government on its own citizens.
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Such 'exposes' are what brought the torture practices of the Bush administration, and abuse practiced in such places as Abu-Gharib, Guantannamo, and other 'black sites' to the attention of both the American public and legislative branches of the government. Indeed, your complaints and attacks on me only trivialize such institutional violence.
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If this is what passes as the 'truth' for you, then indeed, one has to wonder just who's really bought your services.

Nick, you really should take a moment to read what you actually write.
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"Obviously, the regime is afraid of dissent and deals with it violently at times."
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"So long as you fabricate, twist reality, or state your opinion as fact, I will side with the truth...I won't stand for your lies and BS"
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"Iranians have, more a basically uncut period since 1953, suffered at the hands of one brutal government or another. We are well aware that this regime has offered an iron fist when it comes to dissent."
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"No one has ever accused the Iranian regime of torturing or terrorizing anyone. This is the type of bullsh*t people like you like to spread all over the media in various forms. Shame on worthless people like you."
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