Appeal to be heard; Saberi resumes eating

TEHRAN, May 6 (UPI) -- An Iranian appeals court will review the espionage conviction of imprisoned U.S. free-lance journalist Roxana Saberi next week, a judiciary spokesman said.

The announcement came after Saberi's family agreed not to hire a group of lawyers headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate and human rights activist Shrin Ebadi, The Washington Post reported Wednesday

"Judicial authorities have advised us that it is better to use other lawyers," said Reza Saberi, the journalist's father.

Saberi told CNN his daughter has ended a two-week hunger strike at her parents' urging. Roxana Saberi had been drinking water but not eating to protest her detention at Tehran's Evin prison.

Iranian officials Friday took her to a hospital, where she was fed intravenously before being returned her to her cell, her father said.

In an e-mail sent Wednesday to supporters, the elder Saberi wrote, "We were very glad to hear this news. We hope she will gain some strength to enable her to stand the appeal trial."

The 32-year-old journalist was tried and convicted in a one-day, closed-door trial in April. She was sentenced to eight years in prison.

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.

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

Iranian authorities revoked her press credentials in 2006, but Saberi still filed news items.

In early April, it was learned that Saberi was charged with espionage.