The second hearing in the espionage trial of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian was held behind closed doors in Tehran on Monday, the Post reported. The first hearing occurred two weeks ago.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency said Rezaian, a California native who has dual U.S. and Iranian citizenship because his father was born in Iran, presented part of his defense in English during the hearing in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. His statements were translated for the judge.
No reporters were in court, and the media accounts from Tehran provided no details of Rezaian’s statements in court. His attorney, Leila Ahsan, said she cannot publicly discuss the court proceedings. Under Iranian law, it is illegal to reveal details about a closed-door hearing.
“The second hearing in the trial of Jason Rezaian was held today examining the charges against him. Jason was in good spirits,” Ahsan told the Rezaian family, according to the reporter’s brother, Ali Rezaian.
CBS reported that neither Rezaian’s mother, Mary, nor his wife—who is also facing charges—were allowed to be present for the hearing hearing.
As on May 26, neither woman was permitted to attend the court session on Monday. His mother told Palmer that she waited inside the court lobby all day, hoping to hear anything about the proceedings, but eventually learned the day’s hearing had ended. She learned nothing of what had taken place in the courtroom.
Rezaian’s mother was allowed to see him for an hour-long visit on Friday. She said he has lost a lot of weight and has vision problems which are not being adequately addressed by his jailers.
Rezaian is permitted one phone call per week with his wife.
According to a later report in the Post, a third session of the trial will be held, though no date has been announced.
Rezaian has been accused of having ties to the National Iranian American Council, an advocacy group that promotes closer ties between the United States and Iran.
Rezaian and his wife Yeganeh Salehi, also a journalist, were arrested last July. The charges against Rezaian were not made public until April.
Earlier this year, Iranian foreign minister and lead nuclear negotiator Mohammad Javad Zarif was widely mocked for claiming that Iran did not “imprison journalists or dissidents.”
The Washington Post has published a series of editorials about its reporter’s ordeal. Last month, an editorial characterized Rezaian’s arrest and trial as part “an aggressive campaign to bully the United States and its partners into weakening” the terms of a deal currently being negotiated with Iran to limit its nuclear program.
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