So turns out Roxanna was a bit naughty, and there was a slight something to the spying charges after all:
TEHRAN, Iran – A joyful Roxana Saberi on Tuesday thanked those who helped win her release after four months in a Tehran prison. Her lawyer revealed that the American journalist was convicted of spying for the U.S. in part because she had a copy of a confidential Iranian report on the U.S. war in Iraq.
Saberi, who holds American and Iranian citizenship, had copied the report "out of curiosity" while she worked as a freelance translator for a powerful body connected to Iran's ruling clerics, said the lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht...
Saberi admitted that she copied the document two years ago but said she didn't pass it on to the Americans as prosecutors claimed. She apologized, saying it had been a mistake to take the report, Nikbakht said. He gave no details on what was in the document because it remains confidential.
Well, had she done this in the US she would be in jail right now. There are several US statutes prohibiting accesss of national security information, intercepted communications or codes (18 U.S.C. §§793, 794, 797, 798 and 952); statute prohibiting the unauthorized disclosure of restricted data (42 U.S.C. §2277); the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (50 U.S.C. §421 et seq.); and Internal Security Act (50 U.S.C. §783). The Iranians could have dealt with this better if the true nature of the facts were provided to the media in greater detail, and allowed a more fair trial where she was allowed to defend herself.
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