Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian will reportedly be charged with espionage by Iran. In a searing statement, Rezaian's editor called the allegations "transparently baseless" as well as "absurd and despicable."
Marty Baron, executive editor of the Post, confirmed the charges against the paper's Tehran correspondent in a statement in which he also called the trial "a tragic charade" and warned "the world will be watching."
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According to Baron, who has seen a statement from Rezaian's lawyer, the charges Rezaian faces in Iran include “conducting propaganda against the establishment,’’ “collaborating with hostile governments,” and “collecting information about internal and foreign policy and providing them to individuals with malicious intent."
"We understand that these charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 to 20 years in prison," Baron wrote.
Rezaian's wife Yeganeh Salehi, a journalist for The National that is based in Dubai, "also faces an impending trial on an equally baseless charge," Baron said.
On July 22, 2014, Iranian authorities raided Rezaian's home, arresting him and Salehi while also confiscating their personal belongings. Salehi was freed in October 2014, but Rezaian has been held in an Iranian jail for the past nine months while awaiting formal charges and a trial.
'Chilling' charges
The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Iran has yet to announce any formal charges or set a trial date. Rezaian's lawyer told the Post that requests for bail have been denied. According to Baron, the Iranian judge, Abolghassem Salavati, "did not permit to Jason to choose his own counsel [for the trial], rejecting several initial choices."
Baron criticized the Iranian court's record: "If there is any hint of light in Iran’s levying of these chilling charges, it is that Iran’s accusations against Jason will soon be heard in the court of public opinion and also in a court of law, albeit in a Revolutionary Court before a judge whose unfairness has already earned him sanctions from the European Community for violations of human rights."
The indictment alleges that Rezaian's corresponded with President Barack Obama, which the Iranian government took as proof of having contact with a "hostile government."
“Jason is a journalist, and it is in the nature of his profession to gain access to information and publish them,” Rezaian's lawyer Leila Ahsan said in a statement to the Post. “My client, however, has never had any direct or indirect access to classified information to share with anyone.”
"The grave charges against Jason that Iran has now disclosed could not be more ludicrous. It is absurd and despicable to assert, as Iran’s judiciary is now claiming, that Jason’s work first as a freelance reporter and then as The Post’s Tehran correspondent amounted to espionage or otherwise posed any threat to Iranian national security," Baron wrote.
#BREAKING Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian faces espionage trial, his lawyer tells @AFP in Tehran #Iran— Arthur MacMillan (@arthurmacmillan) April 20, 2015
Rezaian, 39, has served as the Post's Tehran correspondent since 2012.
There has been some suggest that Rezaian was being used by Iran as a bargaining chip in the ongoing nuclear talks. The State Department released a statement saying that the two should be treated separately.
State re: Rezaian & other jailed Americans in #Iran: 'Their fate & the outcome of these cases should in no way be tied to the nuclear issue'— Hannah Allam (@HannahAllam) April 20, 2015
A U.S. State Department official said that they were aware of the reports but had not yet confirmed the charges, and reiterated demands that Rezaian be released.
The White House also came out firmly against the charges.
.@PressSec: Charges against WaPo's Jason Rezaian in Iran are "absurd" and should be "immediately dismissed."— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) April 20, 2015