Rezaian, together with his wife Yeganeh Salehi, a press photographer and his attorney Leila Ahsan, appeared in the Branch 15 of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Court on Tuesday for his first court hearing.
Jason Rezaian, a 39-year-old Iranian-American, who is facing charges of 'espionage, collaboration with hostile governments, gathering classified information and disseminating propaganda against the Islamic Republic,' rejected the charges, saying “I am only a correspondent and all my activities have been legal.”
Judge Salavati read the translated version of Rezaian’s letter to US President Barack Obama in which the defendant, while referring to his work records, had written, “I am in contact with everyone from simple workers to influential mullahs in Iran.”
He had also referred in his letter to Obama to having a network of associations inside Iran.
The Judge further asked about Rezaian’s ties with Lara Setrakian who was among a group of journalists invited to the White House in March 2013.
The Judge asked about the private meeting Setrakian had with Obama during which she had asked Rezaian for a briefing on Iran’s last presidential candidates and the political, economic and social situation in Iran to pass on to President Barack Obama.
The defendant rejected the charges; the Judge, however, presented him with strong and consistent evidence that pointed to the charges holding true.
Rezaian, who holds a dual Iranian-American citizenship, has been The Post’s correspondent in Tehran since 2012.
His wife, an Iranian citizen, works as a correspondent for the National, a newspaper based in the United Arab Emirates. Salehi and the female photographer were released on bail in October 2014.
Your Comment