OHMYGOSSIP — A closed door trial of Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian began Tuesday, nearly 10 months after he was arrested for alleged spying in Iran.
State-owned Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that the proceedings were adjourned after about two hours. However there were no details on the charges or any actions in the Revolutionary Court trial.
No family members or independent observers were permitted inside the courtroom. The trial is being held in Branch 15 of the Tehran revolutionary court, which usually presides over political cases or those related to national security.
MizanOnline, a news agency linked to the judiciary, said that Rezaian was presented with the charges against him, including espionage.
Rezaian’s wife Yeganeh Salehi and mother, Mary Rezaian, went to the courthouse but were not permitted access to the trial, according to brother Ali Rezaian.
He said they waited for several hours until a clerk told them that the proceeding was over.
Jason Rezaian, 39, is accused of “espionage, collaboration with hostile governments, gathering classified information and disseminating propaganda against the Islamic republic”, his lawyer Leila Ahsan said. Ahsan told the Rezaian family that the trial “opened in the Revolutionary Court with the judge reading the indictment against him.”
“The proceeding will continue at a later session,” Ahsan said, according to the family.
Under Iranian law, it is a crime to reveal details of a closed-door hearing, and the lawyer informed the family that she is unable to say more at this juncture.
The case has clouded the rapprochement between Iran and the United States, which said that it was monitoring the trial “as closely as possible”.
“While we call for this trial to be open, we also maintain that Jason should never have been detained or put on trial in the first place,” US National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said.
The US State Department has repeatedly raised in negotiation with Iran the case of Rezaian and two other Americans already convicted in Iran: former US Marine Amir Hekmati and pastor Saeed Abedini, as well as a missing former FBI agent, Robert Levinson.
The case of the reporter’s detention has attracted international condemnation. Several journalist organizations have campaigned on Rezaian’s behalf.
“Iran must end this travesty of justice immediately,” said Sherif Mansour, Middle East and North Africa program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists.
“After more than 300 days of unwarranted detention, the least Iran could do is to release Rezaian on bail and grant his employer entry to the country and access to the legal proceedings.”