Today, World Press Freedom Day, we launch the start of our 12-day staggered hunger strike for Roxana.
The 55 volunteers fasting today live in states like Kentucky, Maryland, Illinois and Texas, and countries including Iran, Egypt and Greece. Just a handful know Roxana personally.
Wonder why these supporters are going hungry for Roxana? Check out their testimonials, marked by an asterisk.
As Jessica Desvarieux of Cairo, Egypt, wrote: “There is a powerful collective force established when a group shows solidarity. As a fellow journalist living abroad, I would like to show support for Ms. Saberi and all of those seeking the truth amidst the darkness. Our efforts will not be in vain.”
Click the “Read More” button to see a list of supporters who are going hungry today for Roxana. The full list of more than 200 volunteers is available here.
Jessica Desvarieux
Cairo, Egypt
* There is a powerful collective force established when a group shows solidarity. As a fellow journalist living abroad, I would like to show support for Ms. Saberi and all of those seeking the truth amidst the darkness. Our efforts will not be in vain.
Heidi LeBaron
Heights, UT, USA
* Friday, May 1, I graduate with my BS in Journalism. I am fasting for her this month to support the cause of reporting truth and upholding justice.
Daryoush Khavarian
Tehran, Iran
* She is innocent. She has become a victim of Islamic Mollahs.
Nick Rice
Mendham, NJ, USA
Tiffany Ray
Lagrange, KY, USA
* For years I’ve wanted to be a journalist who brings truth to people not by sitting at a computer and typing the information given to me, but by going out there and getting it. I know the risks and it’s the life I will pursue, and Roxana’s story only strengthens my want. This is a terrible injustice that I can’t ignore. The world is broken enough. I can’t just know her story and go on living like I don’t, and it’s upsetting how a lot of people can. I would gladly surrender my strength so that Roxana may regain hers. She is the one who needs it most right now.
Shyquyna El-Hunt
Baltimore, MD.
* I am an American Muslim and feel that the government over there is off by a long shot. They need to have faith in our president to do what’s right. Not to be sneaky like the presidents before him.
Edward Hall III
New Orleans, LA, USA
Clara Lingle
Evanston, IL, USA
Sarah Norris
Chicago, IL, USA
* Journalism is not a crime.
Kathryn Grayson
Amherst, MA, USA
* I support Roxana and her innocence; please free Roxana. She is journalist not a spy.
Andrew Hunt
Bristol, TN, USA
* This has gone on for far too long. She must be set free.
Vic Levinson
Evanston, IL, USA
* Free Roxana! Enough with the Iranian oppression!
Kimberly Howard
St. Paul, MN, USA
* I am concerned about Ms. Saberi’s safety & well being. I am so upset that she is imprisoned in Iran. I have been emailing & speaking with everyone I know about her & others imprisoned without just cause. I have also emailed US Senators, the UN, State Department, and Iranian government officials demanding her immediate release. I hope that all US citizens realize how crucial this situation is, we must speak out & raise our voices to stop such injustice. Truth will prevail, peace be with you.
Heidi Ernst Jones
Santa Fe, NM, USA
* I want to support Roxana’s cause and make sure she safely returns from this ordeal.
Leila Nafissi
Sacramento, CA, USA
Mary Jacobson
Saint Paul, MN, USA
Marta Marvilly
Venice, Italy
Marjorie Garwood
Atlanta, GA, USA
Konstantina Zoehrer
Athens, Greece
* Justice
Alexis Grant
Albany, NY, USA
* I support Roxana because freedom of the press is important to all of us. If it weren’t for journalists like Roxana, we wouldn’t have news out of places like Iran.
Pedram Karbassi
Walnut Creek, CA, USA
* It is unjust from the Iranian Regime to make accusations against Roxana Saberi without a fair trial, and convict her to 8 year in prison.
Andrea Grimes
Austin, TX, USA
* I am a feminist and a journalist, and this is slightly more meaningful than reTweeting Roxana news all the time.
Jamila Bey
Washington, DC, USA
* I knew Roxana when we were at NPR in 2001. She is a wonderful person and an inspiration to every young female journalist in the world. I have been fasting sporadically (I am nursing) in solidarity with her, and I will continue to do so until her safe release.
Marian Cowhig Owen
Greensboro, NC, USA
A. Carrillo
El Monte, CA, USA
* I am asking the Iranian government to free Roxana. I am a teacher in support of world press freedom.
Jane Evans
Hastings on Hudson, NY, USA
* It’s the right thing to do and Roxana needs an enormous show of support.
David Ellison
Houston, TX, USA
* As a U.S. citizen and a former reporter recently laid off, I support freedom of the press. And my most important reason: FREE ROXANNA!!!
Marilyn Oakes
Seattle, WA, USA
* I’m not sure that I agree with Ms Saberi’s decision to hunger strike, but as well I hope that perhaps international pressure takes hold and forces Iran into freeing her … but that kind of power is slow moving, and I’m not interested in her dying for this. Much better to keep alive and active as she can as her supporters work for her release … in any case, that being said, I’m willing to do what I can to work for her release as well. This is a good way to demonstrate solidarity and talk about the wrongness of jailing any journalist for reporting any truth that is evident.
Zohreen Adamjee
West Hollywood, CA, USA
* I am fasting in support for Roxanna because I too want to be an international reporter one day… and I hope that what is happening to her never happens to anyone else in that amazing profession. Very sad what’s happening.
Rainy Day
Rocky Mount, VA, USA
K. Devine
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
* Hunger strikes have been an important political tool for decades. It’s harder to abuse frail prisoners and nobody wants a corpse on their doorstep, so to speak. I hope that our effort lets Saberi know she is not alone, and lets Iran know that the international community is watching.
Karyn Tilton
Livingston, MT, USA
* She is a former college teammate and friend. Her conviction is a farce.
Lucy Ladley
Overland Park, KS, USA
* Freedom of speech in journalism is of the utmost importance to me. I have heard stories of how journalists are tortured, imprisoned or killed in other countries. I can not allow myself to be complacent & think this freedom could be lost in my own country. God bless & protect journalists & the freedom they represent.
Carol Zuegner
Omaha, NE, USA
* It’s a small way of putting what I talk about in classes into practice. I value freedom of the press and journalism enough to try to do my part.
Isha Tohill
Evanston, IL, USA
* The more people to spread the word, the more support for Roxana!
Lorraine Doyle
Albuquerque, NM, USA
* Journalist or spy, Iran is using her for their demonizing of US and the US is using her to demonize Iran. Let’s stop this unnecessarily unproductive name calling and initiate real diplomatic contacts.
Rachel Ivashchuk
Hunter, ND, USA
* Roxana seems to have been unjustly persecuted. It is no person’s right to “play” GOD and that is exactly what the judge has done. He has taken the opportunity to “get even” with someone or something and unfortunately has not been professional in his ruling. He must know that a person is involved. But it appears that he has decided that he is a higher power and is not required to abide by the same human laws that everyone is subject to. It is an absolute disgrace and he has done far more damage than he evidently knows. I do not normally get involved in things like this. However, this is hitting too close to home. Not just for the fact that her and I have grown up in the same area. She has proven to be the “better” person in the situation. This judge must be overruled.
Jack Doppelt
Evanston, IL, USA
* I want Roxana to know that we are thinking of her, that we are behind her completely, and that she should be strong and take some comfort in knowing that we’re with her.
Kathy Greathouse
Prosper, TX, USA
Andy McBride
Bellingham, WA, USA
* I support Roxana Saberi, a free, vibrant and independent press, the rule of law, and person to person diplomacy. The saber rattling between the U.S. and Iran must end. We have common ground as human beingsand human societies. I recognize that fasting is a powerful means of protest. I honor Roxana Saberi’s courage and strength, but I want her to retain her strength and health and return to us. Additionally, I will fast in honor of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, American journalists detained in North Korea.
Cris Smothers
New Orleans, LA, USA
* I am fasting for Roxanna for as many days as it takes until she is freed. I am horribly hurt by the tragic murder of Delara Darabi a innocent artist and poet who was hanged just a day ago in Iran. Delara had been given a 2 month stay but they lied and dragged her out screaming, “Im innocent” until her last breath. Why? To show us they can. What will they do to Roxanna if we don’t stop them?
Valinda Norton
Asheboro, NC, USA
* She could be my daughter and I would need others to help. And our United States Government needs to get serious about this imprisonment of American Women.
Adam Whiteley
Beloit, WI, USA
Scherie G.
Chicago, IL, USA
* I feel a sense of shame and embarassment at the inaction of the Obama Administration. I’m fasting for freedom, for individual rights and for those who are willing to present the truth about this horrendous, amoral nation. You are in my thoughts Roxana. I cannot imagine the environment you are in. But do know you are not forgotten by American citizens. Do not give up!!
Dieter Bölter
Cologne, Germany
* I hope that as someone begins to think. I like the Iranian people. I dont like the Iranian leadership. Since apparently everyone can do whatever he wants. There is no constitutional control bodies. Almost like we were in the GDR.
Joan Petit
Cairo, Egypt
Patricia Reber
Ft. Myers, FL, USA
* We need to stand together to help her so that she can get free.
Rebecca Young
Mountain View, CA, USA
* I’ve been following Roxana’s situation for months and want to do anything I can to help win her release. She is wrongly imprisoned, and I worry greatly for her health and safety.
Jason Kulio
Truro, MA, USA
* Iran is unjust in it’s reaction to Roxana,
she was sentanced to a crime she wasn’t even charged with.
I hope she will be released soon.
Robert Reber
Ft. Myers, FL, USA
* It is the right thing to do.
Grant Kettering
Streamwood, IL, USA
Hassan Nayeb Hashem
Vienna, Austria
Drew Bush
Washington, DC, USA
Libby Casey
Washington, DC, USA
Haleh Farmanara
Crofton, MD, USA
* The Islamic republic of Iran is a disgrace to humanity. They kill our young without any problems what so ever. Stop this madness; free you hearts from hate and greed and you’ll see we will have a better world to live in. There is enough for all of us. Free this young lady; she has not done anything wrong. Why are you so intimidated by women???
3 Responses
May 3rd, 2009 at 2:05 pm
[...] Σήμερα, ξεκίνησε μια προσπάθεια συμπαράστασης στην Roxana Saberi , δημοσιογράφο φυλακισμένη από τις Ιρανικές αρχές. Κατηγορείται για κατασκοπεία (τι άλλο . Ανταποκρίτρια, μεταξύ άλλων, για το BBC και το NPR. Το Ιράν κατέχει μια από τις πρώτες θέσεις παγκοσμίως ανάμεσα στις χωρες που φυλακίζουν δημοσιογράφους. Η προσπάθεια συμπαράστασης με εθελοντική απεργία πείνας βασίζεται καθαρά στην συνείδηση του καθενός. Ίσως θα φανεί μόνο συμβολική αλλά ίσως δίνει ελπίδα. Αν θέλετε να συμμετάσζετε στην προσπάθεια μπορείτε να βρείτε σχετικές πληροφορίες στον ιστοχώρο http://freeroxana.net/. [...]
May 3rd, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Roxanna,
The women of Texas, and the women in America who care about women’s rights are watching. You are not forgotten and we will do everything we can to win your freedom. Let us bear this burden for you, so you can remain strong for the fight ahead.
They have no right to hold an American woman on trumped up charges and subject her to complete barbarism.
You have friends. You are not alone.
May 4th, 2009 at 12:14 am
[...] students and other concerned citizens continue their staggered hunger strike in protest of the continued detention of Medill graduate Roxana Saberi in Iran. In other [...]
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