Roxana should not be in jail
TV REPORTER John Cookson is backing the campaign to free the American/Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi, jailed for eight years in Iran in March on spying charges.
John Cookson, who as an NUJ freelance won a landmark case on tax in the 1990s, worked with her as a reporter in the Baghdad bureau of Fox News in 2005, where she was a producer. “Baghdad was extremely violent in those days with almost daily bombings in the street outside,” he says. “I remember one week when the hotel took four direct hits from Katyusha rockets, but Roxana always stayed calm and cheerful.
“She is extremely intelligent — she has two masters’ degrees — and very ambitious. She told me that after Baghdad she thought Tehran was the place to be to make a name for herself.
“I had worked in Iran myself and know what difficulties western journalists face. For a woman it would have been doubly difficult. I urged her to reconsider, but she was determined.
“We stayed in touch by email when I joined Al Jazeera English in Qatar, and I was horrified to hear she had been arrested. I am convinced the charges are trumped up and that she is being used by Tehran as a bargaining chip in its long-running feud with the West.
“I have been inside Evin Jail, where Roxana is held, and it is far from pleasant, but Roxana is a strong character and I expect her to cope better than most.
“We must get her freed. The charges are an outrage and an assault on free journalism.”
Members wanting to back the campaign are welcome to phone John Cookson on 077100 83626.