Jason Rezaian: I am a journalist

One of the most important news I heard in these two days in CNN and other news networks, was the trial of the Washington post reporter in Iran. 

 

Jason Rezaian an Iranian-American Washington Post reporter. Rezaian, his wife Yeganeh Salehi and two photojournalists were detained on July 22 in Tehran. 

He first came to public attention in 2006 when he sentenced two defendants to death for the murder of Hassan Moghadas, the Revolutionary Court judge who sentenced a prominent journalist - Akbar Ganji - to 15 years in jail.Jason Rezaian, made his first court appearance in Tehran on Tuesday May 26 along with the other two accused in the case, including his wife, Yeganeh Salehi. The session was held behind closed doors.
He was charged of espionage in Iran. Rezaian's brother, Ali Rezaian, later told The Associated Press in Washington that the proceeding largely involved him hearing the charges. Rezaian's lawyer, Leila Ahsan, could not be reached for comment.
Last week, Rezaian's lawyer said Salehi, who is a reporter for The National newspaper in the United Arab Emirates capital of Abu Dhabi, and a freelance photographer who worked for foreign media, also will stand trial. The photographer's name has not been made public.
The Post and U.S. diplomats have criticized Rezaian's detention and the handling of the case. Salehi has been barred from traveling abroad, the Post said, adding that its requests for a visa for a senior editor to travel to Iran went unanswered.
"There is no justice in this system, not an ounce of it, and yet the fate of a good, innocent man hangs in the balance," Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron said in a statement. "Iran is making a statement about its values in its disgraceful treatment of our colleague, and it can only horrify the world community." Ali Rezaian said he believed Iranian authorities had two main documents they were using at his brother's trial.
The judge, Abolghassem Salavati, outlined the charges against Mr Rezaian as "espionage through collecting classified information and providing it to hostile governments" and "spreading propaganda against the regime", Iran's Mehr news agency reported. Mr Rezaian rejected some of the charges, Mehr reported, saying: "I am a journalist and I carried out all my activities legally and as a journalist."
The BBC's US state department correspondent, Barbara Plett Usher, says US officials have repeatedly raised his case during months of nuclear negotiations with Iran, but have declined to link the two.
The imprisoned journalist's family have taken heart from recent comments by President Barack Obama, who said that the White House would not rest until Mr Rezaian was brought home safely, our correspondent adds.