Berlin - Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi confirmed Tuesday that she will defend an Iranian-American journalist sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of espionage.

Roxana Saberi, 31, was found guilty of spying for the United States by an Iranian revolutionary court last week, after she was arrested for failing to have authorized press credentials.

"There is no logical background for this sentence," Ebadi told the German Press Agency dpa.

"She is only a young journalist and she never had a chance to have contacts to foreign governments," the Nobel peace laureate added.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that Saberi had the right to a free and fair appeal, after the US National Public Radio reporter was sentenced behind closed doors in Tehran to eight years in prison.

To the question whether the trial was politically motivated, Ebadi said, "The only thing that I can say is that the sentence is not just and fair." (dpa)