Journalist Saberi to be freed

Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American journalist convicted in Tehran on charges of espionage will be released today, her lawyers said.

According to the Washington Post, authorities have suspended the rest of her eight year prison sentence:

“We are at the prison now, and hopefully she will be released in one or two hours,” Khorramshai [Saberi’s lawyer] said during a phone interview. He said he had received a message from Iranian judicial authorities at 2 p.m. local time that Saberi’s sentence had been reduced from eight years to a two-year suspended sentence.

“As I understood it, she is free to leave Iran,” Khorramshai said. “They explained me that the two years were conditional and would not be carried out if she would not commit any crimes in the coming five years.”Saberi has been banned from working as a reporter in Iran for five years, Khorramshai added.

Saberi was convicted in April of epsionage after a short, closed-door trial. Iranian leaders, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, asked for a re-trial. A verdict was expected sometime this week.

UPDATE: Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) released the following statement on the news of Saberi’s release–which is now final. (Saberi’s family is from North Dakota).

“This is the news we’ve all been waiting for. Roxana has been released from prison and she is safe with her father. The entire North Dakota family shares the Saberi family’s sense of joy and relief that Roxana has been freed. We anxiously await her safe return to the United States.

“I commend all those who fought tirelessly for Roxana’s release and her countless supporters in North Dakota, across the nation, and around the world who never gave up hope.”