More than 3,000 supporters for Fargo journalist Roxana Saberi are joining in a grass-roots effort to do what they can to urge her release from an Iranian jail.
A petition was started Tuesday, circulating via the popular social networking Web site Facebook and generating signatures from supporters worldwide - from North Dakotans and Texans to Canadians and Iranians.
How much weight can a Facebook petition really have?
"We'll see," said Meredith Greene Megaw, adding she's hopeful it's one more tool to pressure government officials to take Saberi's case seriously.
Megaw, a spokeswoman with the organization behind the survey - the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists - said the petition will be delivered to Iranian United Nations representatives today.
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And while it's uncertain whether the Facebook petition will make it into the hands of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, she believes it may make a difference in advocating for Saberi.
"It's one of those things that, of itself, won't help her, but it will show what broad concern there is for her well-being," Megaw said. "I think all of these things will have an effect."
The online petition calls for Ahmadinejad to investigate Saberi's case, ensure her access to an attorney and due process, make her charges public and release her immediately if no charges are filed.
On Monday, Iran officials said Saberi was engaged in "illegal" activities for working after the government revoked her press credentials in 2006.
Saberi, who graduated from Fargo North High School and Concordia College, has been detained in Iran for more than a month. The former Miss North Dakota had been working in Tehran, Iran, for six years, reporting for news organizations such as NPR and the BBC.
"We thought it would be good to engage her supporters and show the Iranian government that she has a lot of supporters globally," Megaw said.
Besides Facebook supporters, North Dakota's congressional delegation - Sens. Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan and Rep. Earl Pomeroy - reiterated their support Wednesday.
"The State Department is making every effort to gather information on Ms. Saberi's whereabouts and her well-being," they said in a joint statement. "We will continue to work as a delegation to ensure Ms. Saberi's release from prison and safe return to the United States."
