roxana saberi's fiance speaks out

Yesterday, a prominent Iranian filmmaker, Bahman Ghobadi, published an open letter calling for the release of American journalist Roxana Saberi, who was convicted last week of espionage by a court Iran. Turns out, Ghobadi and Saberi are engaged to be married: Iranian Fiance of Jailed American Journalist Publishes Open Letter.

Ghobadi is an acclaimed, award-winning director whose first film, Time for Drunken Horses, won a prize at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. His letter, written from inside Iran, was translated into English and published on website of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

It's a heartfelt, desperate plea for her release. The guy has obviously been going through hell -- even blaming himself -- since he found out Saberi had been arrested, but remains optimistic that she'll eventually be freed.

Saberi has appealed the decision, and hopefully, it'll be reconsidered. Here's a BBC News interview with Roxana's parents regarding her sentence: Jailed reporter's parents speak out.