Roxana Saberi
| Roxana Saberi | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Roxana Saberi April 26, 1977 Belleville, New Jersey, United States |
| Education |
Concordia College Northwestern University University of Cambridge Hughes Hall, Cambridge |
| Occupation | Journalist Translator |
| Notable credit(s) | Miss North Dakota, 1997 |
| Family | Father: Reza Saberi (Iran) Mother: Akiko Saberi (Japan) |
Roxana Saberi (Persian: رکسانا صابری) (born April 26, 1977) is an American freelance journalist and former Miss North Dakota pageant winner. She was held prisoner in Iran's Evin Prison for 101 days under accusations of espionage. She subsequently wrote a book about the experience.
On April 8, 2009, the Iranian government charged Saberi with espionage, which she denied. She was subsequently convicted and sentenced to an eight-year prison term. An appeals court reduced the charge against her from espionage to possessing classified information, a charge which she also denied, and reduced her eight-year prison term to a two-year suspended sentence. She was released on May 11, 2009.
Saberi was born in Belleville, New Jersey, the daughter of Reza Saberi, who was born in Iran, and Akiko Saberi, who emigrated from Japan. When she was six months old, her family moved to Fargo, North Dakota. Graduating with honors from Fargo North High School in 1994, Saberi played piano and soccer, and took part in Key Club and danceline. Saberi was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2007.
She graduated in 1997 from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, with degrees in Communication and French. Saberi also played for the Cobbers soccer team from 1994 to 1996.
Chosen as Miss North Dakota in 1997, she was among the top ten finalists in Miss America 1998, winning the Scholar Award. Saberi holds her first master's degree in Broadcast Journalism from Northwestern University and her second master's degree in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, where she played for the university soccer team and the King's College, Cambridge, soccer team. She was working on another master's degree in Iranian Studies at the time of her arrest.
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