Petition to UN to help jailed reporter freed
July 22, 2015
The Washington Post has appealed to the United Nations to help secure the release of Jason Rezaian, the paper's Tehran bureau chief, who's been in jail in Iran for 365 days as of Wednesday.
The newspaper filed a petition with the UN Human Rights Council seeking to press authorities in Tehran to free the 39-year-old, one of four Americans detained or missing in Iran.
Rezaian, who had been reporting from Tehran for two years, was detained along with his Iranian wife Yeganeh Salehi at their home in July 2014.
Although Salehi was freed, her husband Rezaian was charged with espionage and distributing anti-government propaganda and has been held ever since.
His lawyer revealed that Rezaian - who holds dual US and Iranian nationality - is accused of acting against national security by collecting confidential information and handing it to hostile governments. He faces 10 to 20 years in prison, if convicted.
Subject to harsh interrogation and solitary confinement, even his family have been banned from attending his closed-door trial, which began in May.
"Every aspect of this case - his incarceration, his trial, the conditions of his imprisonment - has been a disgraceful violation of human rights. And it violates common decency," Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron said in a press conference.
Rezaian's family hope the conclusion of the Iran nuclear deal could mean that his release will follow soon.
"In this past year my family has watched these on-and-off negotiations drag on. We have awaited each deadline hoping that they can provide an opportunity for the Iranians to end this political and inhumane detention of my brother," his brother Ali said.
Several prominent names have joined the campaign to have Rezaian freed.
US Secretary of State John Kerry says the plight of the four missing Americans was raised several times during the nuclear talks but their release didn't become part of the final deal.
In recent years,Iran has faced increased criticism over its treatment of journalists.
mm/msh (AP, dpa, Reuters)