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Kerry appeals for Post reporter

December 7, 2014

John Kerry has lashed out at Iran for continuing to deny bail to a US journalist four months after his arrest. Jason Rezaian was finally charged Saturday after a lengthy court appearance, The Washington Post reports.

https://p.dw.com/p/1E0SZ
Jason Rezaian und Yeganeh Salehi
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

On Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry lashed out at Iran for denying Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post's Tehran bureau chief since 2012, access to a lawyer. Kerry called on the Iranian authorities to drop the charges "and release him immediately" from Tehran's notorious Evin prison.

"The United States is deeply disappointed and concerned by reports that the Iranian judiciary has charged Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian with unspecified charges, and that the judge denied his request to be released on bail," Kerry said in a statement released on Sunday. The US secretary of state added that denying access to an attorney "is a clear violation of Iran's own laws and international norms."

On July 22, authorities arrested the 38-year-old Rezaian along with his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, whom they freed on bail in October (both pictured). The specific accusations against Rezaian, an Iranian-American with dual citizenship, remain unclear, according to The Washington Post, and Iranian officials have not announced the journalist's next court date. Last week, authorities extended Rezaian's detention for up to 60 days.

Washington Post: Iran
The Post has followed Rezaian's case since his arrestImage: http://article.wn.com

"We are dismayed and outraged by reports that Jason Rezaian, the Post's correspondent in Iran, has now been charged with unspecified crimes," Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron said in a statement released Saturday.

'Dismayed and disturbed'

According to The Washington Post, Saturday's court hearing lasted 10 hours and Rezaian appeared alongside a translator who explained the charges to him because he cannot read Farsi. The newspaper reported that the journalist signed a document signaling that he understood the charges brought against him. Kerry said that Iran had denied requests to speak with Rezaian in prison, and that the journalist's family had concerns for his health.

"We share the concerns of Mr. Rezaian's family regarding reports that he is under physical and psychological distress and is not receiving proper medical care," Kerry said in the statement released Sunday. "I am personally dismayed and disturbed at these reports as I have repeatedly raised Jason's case," the US secretary of state added.

One conservative newspaper in Tehran has accused Rezaian of espionage. The journalist's detention has attracted considerable attention amid the ongoing talks between Iran and the United States and other world powers over the country's disputed nuclear program.

mkg/mg (Reuters, AFP, AP)