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Spy trial of Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian begins in Iran Spy trial of Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian begins in Iran
(about 2 hours later)
The trial of the Washington Post’s Tehran correspondent, Jason Rezaian, in custody for 10 months and accused of espionage, has opened in Iran. Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post reporter imprisoned in Iran for nearly 10 months, is standing trial behind closed doors in Tehran on charges of espionage and at least three other major crimes.
“He has been charged with espionage for collecting confidential information … and handing it to hostile governments, writing a letter to Obama and acting against national security,” his lawyer, Leila Ahsan, told Iran’s Tasnim news agency. The Iranian-American appeared before a revolutionary court presided over by Abolghassem Salavati, a hardline judge notorious for handing down heavy sentences to opposition activists and dissidents, local media reported.
The Washington Post said the trial would be “closed to the world” and slammed what it called injustices against its correspondent. Rezaian’s lawyer, Leila Ahsan, told the semi-official Tasnim news agency: “He has been charged with espionage for collecting information about the country’s domestic and foreign policy issues.” She is not Rezaian’s lawyer of choice.
“The shameful acts of injustice continue without end in the treatment of … Rezaian,” the newspaper’s executive director, Martin Baron, said in a statement published in Monday’s paper. “According to the indictment, he is also facing the charges of collecting confidential information, collaborating with hostile governments, spreading propaganda against the Islamic republic and writing a letter to the US president [Barack] Obama,” she added.
“Now we learn his trial will be closed to the world. And so it will be closed to the scrutiny it fully deserves.” Rezaian, 39, who holds dual Iranian and American citizenship, was arrested at his home in Tehran in July 2014 along with his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, also a journalist, and two friends, an Iranian-American couple. Salehi was released on bail in October and is facing a separate trial.
Ali Rezaian, the journalist’s brother, told Reuters Television: “I think the only reason you could possibly imagine that the trial would be closed would be to prevent people from seeing the lack of evidence. After a 90-minute meeting between Rezaian and his lawyer in April, the first such meeting between the two, it emerged that he has been charged with espionage. His family say the charges are baseless and unfounded.
“It’s unlike the Iranian court system, Iranian government, to keep things private when they can go out and use propaganda up against people.” The Washington Post’s executive editor, Martin Baron, issued a statement before the start of Rezaian’s trial, condemning “the shameful acts of injustice” facing his Tehran correspondent.
He said the family had hoped that Rezaian’s wife, journalist Yeganeh Salehi, and his mother would be allowed to attend the trial. He said his brother had lost 40lb (18kg) in prison. “No evidence has ever been produced by prosecutors or the court to support these absurd charges. The trial date was only disclosed to Jason’s lawyer last week. And now, unsurprisingly but unforgivably, it turns out the trial will be closed,” read the statement published on the Post’s website.
Rezaian, who is from Marin county, California, was arrested at his home in Tehran alongside his wife and two Iranian-US friends, who have not been named. Baron said efforts by his paper to secure a visa for a senior editor to travel to Iran had been blocked. Rezaian’s mother, Mary, however, has been in Tehran for the past two weeks, though she has not been allowed to attend the trial, and nor has Salehi.
The Iranian-American was detained in July last year in a politically sensitive case that has unfolded while Iran and world powers conduct nuclear talks. He is being held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. Baron added: “There is no justice in this system, not an ounce of it, and yet the fate of a good, innocent man hangs in the balance. Iran is making a statement about its values in its disgraceful treatment of our colleague, and it can only horrify the world community.”
The 39-year-old was formally charged with espionage, collaboration with hostile governments, gathering classified information and disseminating propaganda against Iran. The US and the Washington Post have branded the charges against him absurd, calling for his release. In April, Obama met Rezaian’s brother, Ali, at the White House correspondents’ dinner, reassuring him that the American government would do all it could to bring him home.
Ahsan said last week that Rezaian’s wife and another suspect had been summoned to court for Tuesday’s trial. The president said during a speech at the event: “For nine months, Jason has been in prison for nothing more than writing about the hopes and fears of the Iranian people. I have told [Rezaian’s brother] personally that we will not rest until we bring him home to his family, safe and sound.”
Ahsan, who said she had learned that a date had been set for the trial after seeing a news report, said the file against Rezaian contained “no justifiable proof”. Before the trial opened, Ali Rezaian criticised the decision by the Iranian judiciary to hold it behind closed doors and said his brother had lost 18kg (40lb) while in jail.
But Baron said in his statement that neither Salehi nor Rezaian’s mother would be present in court on Tuesday: “Jason’s mother, Mary, who has spent the last two weeks in Iran awaiting the trial, will not be permitted to attend. His wife, Yeganeh, who faces related charges, will also be barred; she is to be tried separately.” “I think the only reason you could possibly imagine that the trial would be closed would be to prevent people from seeing the lack of evidence,” he said. “It’s unlike the Iranian court system, Iranian government, to keep things private when they can go out and use propaganda up against people.”
Baron said the newspaper had tried to obtain a visa for a senior editor to travel to Iran but its request was not acknowledged by the Iranian authorities. Related: Washington Post reporter facing interrogation as Iranian, minister says
“There is no justice in this system, not an ounce of it, and yet the fate of a good, innocent man hangs in the balance,” he said. “Iran is making a statement about its values in its disgraceful treatment of our colleague, and it can only horrify the world community.” It is not still clear why Iran is accusing Rezaian of espionage. Ali Rezaian said two pieces of evidence against him were a visa application he had lodged for his Iranian wife in order to be able to travel to the US and a letter he sent to Obama’s 2008 White House transition team offering help to improve bilateral relations between Iran and the US.
Rezaian was detained on 22 July, along with Salehi and two others, one of whom had worked as a photographer for the Post. Salehi and the other suspects have been released on bail. Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who has described Rezaian as a fair reporter, said in April that Rezaian was accused of “a very serious offence” but he hoped he would be cleared of the charges against him.
Zarif said at the time: “He is an Iranian citizen. It is unfortunate that some over-zealous, low-level operative tried to take advantage of him. And I don’t go into further detail because it’s a pending case before the court. And I hope that he will be cleared of that charge.”
In the past few months, a number of hardline Iranian media outlets have tried to build a cause against him. Unattributed accusations printed in the Iranian press allege that Rezaian worked undercover as a spy while reporting in the country for the Post. A Fars news agency report alleged that Rezaian provided economic and industrial data to the US government.
Ahsan said at the time in response to the accusations: “Jason is a journalist, and it is in the nature of his profession to gain access to information and publish them. My client, however, has never had any direct or indirect access to classified information to share with anyone.”
Iran does not recognise dual citizenship and treats Rezaian as solely Iranian. Iranian intelligence authorities have a deep suspicion of dual citizens and have arrested a number in recent years.
The country has a history of jailing journalists working for the foreign press. Those previously jailed in Iran include Maziar Bahari, whose ordeal in prison was the subject of Rosewater, a film by the US comedian Jon Stewart recently released in the UK.