Little to celebrate on Press Freedom Day

Miami Herald

OUR OPINION: Captive U.S. journalists must be treated fairly by Iran and North Korea

There isn’t much to celebrate. Nor is there much mystery about why journalists so often are the targets of bogus accusations like ”social dangerousness,” a wacky legal concept devised by Cuba’s leaders. In countries where tyrants are accustomed to — and demand — public adulation, journalists are the skunk at the picnic, the annoying yet vulnerable figures who dare to say what others won’t. Silence the journalist and you silence the truth, or so despots believe.

Fortunately, that is not the case. Dissident journalists in Cuba and so many other countries where press freedom is banned continue to ply their trade courageously, defying the authorities, despite awareness of the danger — because it matters. Every honest reporter who contradicts the official version of the truth weakens the wall of lies that protects corrupt governments. Their example encourages others to do the same.

In some instances, journalists are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. That is the case with American journalist Roxana Saberi, who was convicted of espionage in Iran — a bogus charge — and sentenced to eight years in prison after a one-hour trial in a closed court.

The same goes for Asian-American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who were seized by the North Korean government along the border with China last month. The government has said they will be tried for entering the country illegally. They, along with Ms. Saberi in Iran, are hostages rather than criminals.

Ms. Saberi may be a victim of an internal political contest between hard-liners trying to sabotage efforts by others in the government to pursue an improvement in U.S.-Iran relations. Surprisingly, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has urged prosecutors and an appeals court to examine her case fairly, suggesting that her incarceration is a problem for his government.

In both this case and that of Ms. Lee and Ms. Ling, the Obama administration has a role to play. The United States does not have much leverage to exert in Iran and North Korea, but the leaders of those countries must be made to realize that Americans — and their government — cherish the principles of due process and freedom of the press. If those leaders seek favors or goodwill from this country, they must deal with the imprisoned reporters in a manner that is fair, open and consistent with the truth.