Roxana Saberi, former Miss North Dakota, is being held in Iran for allegedly purchasing a box of wine. According the Iranian law, it is illegal to purchase or sell alcohol in the country. Roxana has lived in Iran for the past 6 years and I find it hard to believe that she did now know of this law before buying the alcohol, just like minors know that its illegal when they decide to drink alcohol. After this story had been released to the press and Iran was pressured for more information, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said she was detained for working as a journalist in that country after her press credentials had been revoked which happened in 2006. To me this just seems to be a case of getting into trouble for a small thing than the authorities find out about a bigger thing. Believe me, I have been in the situation!
I can understand the feelings of Roxana’s parents. Their daughter is being held in a prison of a foreign country. What parents wouldn’t be upset? Knowing the conditions of the Middle East right now with wars going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, any parent would be fearing for the safety of their child being held in a prison.
There are examples of multiple forms of public relations issues between the US and Iran. The United States has to be careful not to push the release of Roxana without her serving her sentence for any crimes she may have committed. If the US forces to release Roxana without her doing her time than the US may gain the image as a “big bully” that bails its citizens out of any international problem. Iran has made some bad PR mistakes for not providing Roxana’s family with all of the information pertaining to her arrest. Roxana’s family and the media do not have all of the facts pertaining to her arrest and are still in the dark to the condition of their daughter. Everyone hopes for Roxana’s good health and fair treatment. I feel that she should be responsible for any laws she may have broken. After all is said and done I hope she returns home safely and can leave this experience behind her.
Great topic to write about Dan. I could not image what her family is going through right now. Not only her family but her herself as well. There is still a lot that her family or the US does not know about the situation as well.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard about this I did not realize that her family is currently living to close to us. They are still in Fargo ND. This is very touching because the are so close as well. I hope that everything works in their best interest and they have their daughter home in their arms very soon.
I liked this topic also. To imagine what she is going through is beyond my belief. I hand not heard about this until just recently, but to know that more people could be helping out, but cant because of the lack of reports done on this is horrible to think about.
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