A lawyer for Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian said a verdict in his espionage trial in Iran could come within a week after a Tehran court held a final closed-door hearing on Monday.
According to VOA, Leila Ashan spoke after the fourth hearing since the trial began in May.
The Washington Post, U.S. officials and international press freedom groups have all repeatedly condemned the proceedings and insisted Rezaian is innocent.
He was arrested in July 2014 along with his journalist wife Yeganeh Salehi and held for months without formal charges. He was later charged with espionage and working with “hostile governments.”
Post Executive Editor Martin Baron called the trial a “sham” in a statement Saturday, and said the charges “could not be more baseless and absurd.”
“Iran has behaved unconscionably throughout this travesty of a case,” he said. “It has imprisoned an innocent journalist for more than a year and subjected him to physical mistreatment and psychological abuse.”
Baron urged the court to acquit and release Rezaian, saying Iran had a chance to bring the case to a “humane resolution.
No comments:
Post a Comment