Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

News

‘Washington Post’ Reporter Sentenced to Prison in Iran

Jason Rezaian

Iran has sentenced detained Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian to an unspecified prison term following his conviction last month on charges that include espionage, Iranian state TV reported Sunday.

Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, the spokesman for Iran’s judiciary, announced the punishment in a statement on the TV station’s website.

“In brief, it is a prison sentence,” he said. The verdict is “not finalized,” he added, referring to an expected appeal.

Rezaian’s lawyer, Leila Ahsan, told The Associated Press she had not been informed of the verdict — let alone details of the sentence.

“I have no information about details of the verdict,” she said. “We were expecting the verdict some three months ago.”

Rezaian was detained with his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, and two photojournalists on July 22, 2014. All were later released except Rezaian, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen.

Rezaian went on trial in four closed-door court hearings at Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, which hears cases related to national security. Last month, he was convicted of spying and other charges.

The Post has vigorously denied the accusations against its correspondent.

“We’re aware of the reports in the Iranian media, but have no further information at this time,” Washington Post foreign editor Douglas Jehl said in a statement.

“Every day that Jason is in prison is an injustice. He has done nothing wrong. Even after keeping Jason in prison 488 days so far, Iran has produced no evidence of wrongdoing. His trial and sentence are a sham, and he should be released immediately.”

Rezaian, who has covered Iran for the Post since 2012, grew up in Marin County, California and spent most of his life in the United States. The Post, U.S. officials and Rezaian’s family have all called for his release. Iran does not recognize dual-nationality.

Iran’s state media, citing the indictment, have said Rezaian collected information on Iranian and foreign individuals and companies circumventing sanctions and passed them on to the U.S. government. Iranian state TV has repeatedly called Rezaian an “American spy.”

Earlier this month, the intelligence department of the powerful elite Revolutionary Guard claimed in a report to parliament that Rezaian is an agent seeking to “overthrow” Iran’s Islamic ruling system.

His incarceration and trial played out as Iran and five world powers, including the U.S., negotiated a landmark agreement in which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Iranian media in August quoted officials discussing the possibility of swapping Americans detained in Iran for 19 Iranians held in the U.S. It’s unclear, however, whether that’s been seriously discussed between Iranian and U.S. officials.

 

Source: USA Today

 

 

__________ 

Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng

Copyright 2015 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

Related

News

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced on Monday five days of mourning for President Ebrahim Raisi who died in a helicopter crash. “I...

News

Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles toward Israel in its unprecedented attack overnight, injuring at least 12 people, an Israeli army spokesman...

World

At least 103 people were killed in Iran Wednesday as two bombs in quick succession struck a crowd commemorating slain general Qasem Soleimani on...

News

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — President Joe Biden arrived in Israel on Wednesday to open the first visit to the Middle East of his...

Copyright ©