Family of Washington Post correspondent urges his release by Iran

December 7 at 3:23 PM

The family of Jason Rezaian, The Washington Posts Tehran bureau chief, issued a statement Sunday in response to the decision by the Iranian court to bring unspecified charges against him. Rezaian has been in detention since July 22. His wife Yeganeh Salehi, who was arrested with him, was released on bail in October. The statement is as follows:

FAMILY OF WASHINGTON POST REPORTER JASON REZAIAN RESPONDS TO CHARGES AGAINST HIM BY IRANIAN GOVERNMENT

Dec. 7, 2014

Our family is deeply saddened to confirm that, after being held in solitary confinement without charge for 137 days, Jason Rezaian was charged with unknown crimes by the government of Iran.

In its ongoing disregard of Irans own laws, the Iranian judiciary has continued to deny Jason access to legal representation, denied his request for bail, and prevented access to review of his case file.

This continued disrespect for Irans judicial system should be a concern not only to the international community who are eagerly awaiting normalization of relations with Iran, but also to all those Iranians who claim that Iran is a country of laws which should be recognized as such by major world powers.

We urge Irans Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to show the international community that Iran is indeed a country that respects its laws, and order the immediate and unconditional release of Jason and Yeganeh and end what Irans own Head of the Judiciarys Human Rights Council Mohammad Javad Larijani, recently described as a fiasco.

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Family of Washington Post correspondent urges his release by Iran