Hunger-striking Saberi fed intravenously

TEHRAN, May 5 (UPI) -- U.S. journalist Roxana Saberi, on a hunger strike in an Iran prison to protest her spying conviction, was hospitalized to get nourishment, her father said.

Reza Saberi said his daughter was taken to the hospital at Tehran's Evin prison Friday and fed intravenously before being returned to her cell, CNN reported.

Saberi said his daughter looked "weak and frail" when he saw her Monday.

The 32-year-old Iranian-American free-lance journalist was tried and convicted during a one-day, closed-door trial on espionage charges and sentenced to eight years in prison. Saberi is appealing her verdict, and Iranian authorities have said they will ensure the appeals process is quick and fair.

Saberi began her hunger strike to protest her imprisonment at Evin, which houses Iranian dissidents and political prisoners, CNN said

Saberi's case drew sharp denunciations from U.S. President Barack Obama and other U.S. and international leaders.

When arrested in January, Iranian officials said, Saberi was held for buying a bottle of wine. The Foreign Ministry later said she was detained for reporting without proper credentials.

Saberi has been living in Iran since 2003, free-lancing for National Public Radio and other news organizations, and was writing a book about Iranian culture.

Iranian authorities revoked her press credentials in 2006, but Saberi still filed news items, the Committee to Protect Journalists, a journalists' advocacy group, said. In early April, it was learned that Saberi was charged with espionage.