Jason Rezaian Indicted by Tehran Revolutionary Court, Says Prosecutor

After 170 days of “temporary detention” of Washington Post journalist, Jason Rezaian, the Tehran Prosecutor did not include a statement about the charges Rezaian is facing.

During a press conference today, Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi told reporters that the imprisoned Washington Post correspondent, Jason Rezaian, has been indicted and that his case has been forwarded to a Tehran Revolutionary Court. The Prosecutor’s announcement, after 170 days of “temporary detention” of the journalist, did not include a statement about the charges Rezaian is facing.

“Contrary to what some human rights organizations claim about the violations of the rights of suspects in visiting with their families, Jason Rezaian’s mother, who recently traveled to Iran to visit with her son, met the aforementioned twice,” said the Tehran Prosecutor. He added that Jason Rezaian’s mother also had a short meeting with the investigative judge in the case.

In a video plea to the Iranian authorities for her son’s release, published by the Washington Post on November 7, 2014, Mary Rezaian said, “I wake up every morning, awaiting a phone call, an email, or even a knock at the door with news Jason has been released. But there has been no news.”

In another part of her video message, Mary Rezaian directly addressed “those who have the power to release” her son. “Enough is enough. You have had 100 days to know my sweet boy, and surely by now you know what his family and friends have always told you–Jason is a good, kind man who loves Iran and its people.”

Jason Rezaian, 38, holds dual Iranian and US citizenship, and has been the Washington Post correspondent in Tehran since 2012. Rezaian and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, who worked for the UAE newspaper The National as their Tehran correspondent, were detained in Tehran on July 22, 2014. Yeganeh Salehi was released in October 2014, but Jason Rezaian has remained in prison without clarification about his charges.