Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who has been sitting in an Iranian jail for nine months on undisclosed charges, has been charged with espionage, according to the Post.
Rezaian is accused of “passing on sensitive economic and industrial information about Iran,” the Fars news agency said Sunday.
“Any charges of that sort would be absurd, the product of fertile and twisted imaginations,” the paper said in a statement.
The State Department also didn’t mince words: “If the reports are true, 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 official said.
1998: Novelist Salman Rushdie received death threats after the publication of his book "The Satanic Verses," which was seen by some Muslims as insulting to Muhammad.
2004: Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh angered Muslims with his film "Submission," which was critical of the way women are treated in Islam. He was murdered by Dutch-Moroccan Muslim Mohammed Bouyen.
2005: The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published a number of controversial cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad, leading to protests and violent demonstrations in some Muslim countries.
2011: CBS journalist Lara Logan was beaten and sexually assaulted while covering the celebrations in Egypt's Tahrir Square over the resignation of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
2014: After being threatened by Israelis in Sderot, CNN's Diana Magnay caused an uproar by calling them "scum" on Twitter. Magnay was then pulled off of her assignment near the Gaza border and reassigned to Moscow.
2013: Al Jazeera journalists Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were arrested and later convicted in Egypt of aiding and abetting the Muslim Brotherhood, receiving prison sentences ranging from seven to 10 years. While an Egyptian court has accepted the trio's appeal, the journalists were not released on bail, meaning they'll remain imprisoned until their retrial.
2014: The theatrical release of the comedy "The Interview," which depicted an assassination plot against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was temporarily canceled after Sony suffered a massive cyberattack, in which North Korea reportedly played a part.
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From Salman Rushdie to “The Interview,” speaking one’s mind can be dangerous