Günter Nooke, the Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the Federal Foreign Office, issued the following statement today (11 May) following the decision taken by an Iranian appeals court to reduce the sentence imposed on US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi to a two-year suspended sentence and to release her from prison:

“I welcome the decision to release Ms Saberi. Hopefully this decision will also be a signal for other cases where Iran has prosecuted and imprisoned journalists because they campaigned for freedom of the press.”