An Iranian court has sentenced Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian to prison, a month after his conviction for charges including espionage.
Gholam Mohseni Ejehi, Iran’s judiciary spokesman, did not reveal any details about how long the sentence is, Iranian news agencies reported Sunday.
“In brief, it is a prison sentence,” Ejehi said at a weekly news conference, but noted that the verdict has not even been told to Rezaian or his lawyer.
Rezaian, an Iranian-American, was detained in Iran in July 2014, along with his wife and two photojournalists. The others were released, but Rezaian has been held captive since. He was put on trial in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court after being charged with spying and “propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” according to IRNA, a news agency in Iran.
The Washington Post has said there is no evidence to support these charges.
“Every day that Jason is in prison is an injustice,” Washington Post foreign editor Douglas Jehl said in a statement. “He has done nothing wrong. Even after keeping Jason in prison 488 days so far, Iran has produced no evidence of wrongdoing.”
Rezain’s trial came as Iran, the United States and five other world powers negotiated the Iran Nuclear Deal to curb the country’s ability to produce nuclear weapons. While there was speculation that a prison swap between Iran and the United States was being discussed as part of the negotiations, Ejehl said in September that is not on Iran’s agenda.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 30 journalists were detained in Iran in 2014, the second most jailed journalists in a country that year.
Nicole Brown