U.N. Petition Filed to Release Washington Post Journalist Jason Rezaian
UNITED NATIONS, July 22 (UPI) — A petition to free journalist Jason Rezaian, one of four Americans held in Iran, was presented to the United Nations Wednesday by the Washington Post, his employer.
Coming on the first anniversary of his arrest in Tehran, the petition to the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention accused Iran of “numerous violations of international law” and came as Rezaian’s secretive trial in Tehran Revolutionary Court, for charges including espionage, appears to be reaching a conclusion. He has denied the charges, and his lawyer claims they are not supported by evidence.
The United Nations agency has no enforcement power, but the petition carries the potential to embarrass Iran, a country seeking emergence from global ostracism and economic sanctions. The petition comes a week after Iran negotiated a nuclear agreement with six world powers which will likely bring the country back into the international economic and political fold.
Rezaian’s release not being a part of the nuclear agreement has been a sore point for some Americans. He and two other U.S. citizens are currently detained by the Iranian government. A fourth remains missing in Iran, and President Barack Obama called on Iran to free them all.
Speaking in Pittsburgh Tuesday, Obama mentioned them by name, saying, “We are not going to relent until we bring home our Americans who are unjustly detained in Iran. Journalist Jason Rezaian should be released. Pastor Saeed Abedini should be released. Amir Hekmati, a former sergeant in the U.S. Marines Corps, should be released. Iran needs to help us find Robert Levinson. These Americans need to be back home with their families.”
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