US/Iran - Press freedom

Saberi arrives in Austria

Article published on the 2009-05-15 Latest update 2009-05-15 13:20 TU

Saberi at Tehran airport
(Photo: Reuters)

US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi, whose eight-year prison sentence was revoked by Iran earlier this week, has arrived in Vienna with her family.

Saberi said upon arrival that she would stay in Vienna for a few days to unwind and thanked those who supported her. She told the AFP news agency that she chose the country because the Austrian ambassador had been helpful to her during her ordeal.

Her release came just days before a film she co-wrote, No one Knows About Persian Cats, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in France. The film is a fictional portrayal of an underground indie rock group and their efforts to avoid capture in Iran, where western music is banned.

Saberi was convicted earlier this year of spying for the United States, and spent four months in jail.

The trial was brief and held in secret. Her sentence received great criticism from human rights and press freedom groups, and she went on a hunger strike in protest, which she ended earlier this week.

In a rare move, Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmedinijad, intervened in the case. An appeals court suspended the immediate prison sentence and reduced it to a suspended two years.