A new hearing for Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post correspondent jailed in Iran for close to a year, was held Monday.
“We have no idea what happened, we were not able to see Jason,” Jason Rezaian’s mother told reporters after being denied access to the hearing.
Rezaian is being held on charges he conducted espionage for the U.S. government. He has denied the allegations.
He’s accused of “passing on sensitive economic and industrial information about Iran,” the Fars news agency said.
“Jason Rezaian’s unjust detention on espionage and other charges trumped up by Iranian authorities has now, almost inconceivably, stretched into nearly a full year,” the paper’s executive editor Martin Baron said. “Until today, Jason’s so-called trial, a secret proceeding that began with a single short hearing in May and a second in June, had been halted for more than a month.
“These charges are absurd, should be immediately dismissed and Jason should be immediately freed so that he can return to his family,” the State Department said.
Officers arrested Rezaian and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, on July 22, 2014 at their home; Salehi was released in October.
The Washington Post’s full statement below.
“Jason Rezaian’s unjust detention on espionage and other charges trumped up by Iranian authorities has now, almost inconceivably, stretched into nearly a full year. Until today, Jason’s so-called trial, a secret proceeding that began with a single short hearing in May and a second in June, had been halted for more than a month.
A third hearing in Jason’s case was held today, without conclusion, Jason’s lawyer has told his family. No date has yet been set for these proceedings to resume. We call again on Iran to deliver a speedy, fair and impartial judgment in Jason’s case, one that could only result in his acquittal, immediate release, and a long-overdue reunion with his family. It is long past time to bring an end to the nightmare that began on July 22, 2014, when Jason – The Washington Post’s Tehran correspondent — and his wife Yeganeh Salehi, both accredited as journalists by the Government of Iran, were arrested by Iranian authorities.”