Journalist Roxana Saberi shares her experiences of being imprisoned in Iran while researching a book on Iranian society. http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/national/local-national-898794.mp3
Journalist Roxana Saberi spent 4 months in an Iranian prison for espionage in 2009 while researching her book on Iranian society. While the charges were false, the experience led Saberi to speak out about prisoners of conscience in Iran.
In this edition of Up to Date, Saberi talks with Steve Kraske about her book Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran, her time locked up, her conclusions about life in Iran, and her new mission of bringing attention to the situation of human rights in Iran.
Additional Information:
Roxana Saberi moved to Iran in 2003 to work as the Iran correspondent for the U.S.-based Feature Story News. She filed reports for organizations such as NPR, BBC, ABC Radio and Fox News and was working on a book about Iranian society when she was arrested on January 31, 2009. Saberi was later sentenced to eight years in prison on a trumped-up charge of espionage. She was released in May 2009.
Since her release, Saberi has joined others in bringing attention to the situation of human rights in Iran. She has received the Medill Medal of Courage, the Ilaria Alpi Freedom of the Press Award, the NCAA Award of Valor, and a POMED (Project for Middle East Democracy) Award.
Saberi grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, the daughter of Reza Saberi, who was born in Iran, and Akiko Saberi, who is from Japan. She was chosen Miss North Dakota in 1997 and was among the top ten finalists in Miss America 1998. She graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, with degrees in communications and French.
Saberi holds her first master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University and her second master's degree in international relations from the University of Cambridge.