Formerly imprisoned journalist Roxana Saberi, Medill ’99, will head home to Fargo, North Dakota this week after arriving in Washington, D.C. this weekend.

Saberi was freed from Iranian prison May 11 after an appeals court hearing reduced her sentence. She was recuperating in Vienna, Austria, since her release after staging a hunger strike during her time in prison.

“I’m past relieved…relieved she’s back in the States,” said Medill professor Jack Doppelt, who led Medill’s effort calling for her release.

At the time of her arrest, Saberi was working in Iran as a freelance journalist, filing stories for the British Broadcasting Corporation, National Public Radio and Fox, among other media outlets, when she was allegedly arrested by Iranian authorities for buying wine, which is illegal in the country. She was later accused of reporting without press credentials and then espionage. Saberi was originally sentenced by the Iranian Revolutionary Court to eight years in prison.

An international outpouring of support, in addition to a FreeRoxana campaign led in part by Doppelt, followed her arrest and imprisonment.

Doppelt said the two have exchanged e-mails since her return.

“We have been in touch – we’ve got a longer conversation to come,” he said. “I hope we have a longer conversation sometime in the next week or two – I hope we can bring her to Northwestern.”

Doppelt said individuals from around the world were able to gather in support of Saberi and garner media attention in the process.

“It is a reminder of how powerful online community connections can be in a hurry,” he said. “I hope that these kinds of random expressions of support for somebody can catch fire the way this one did and have some influence.”