NEW YORK (AP) — The brother of a Washington Post reporter detained in Iran since July 2014 delivered a petition to Iran’s United Nations mission on Thursday demanding the journalist’s release.
“They need to know that folks around the world are concerned about this,” Ali Rezaian said before handing over the petition seeking the release of his brother Jason Rezaian.
Thursday marked 500 days since Jason Rezaian’s arrest on July 22, 2014. Rezaian was detained with his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, and two photojournalists. The others were released, but Rezaian went on trial in four closed-door court hearings at Tehran’s Revolutionary Court.
Iranian state TV reported last month that Rezaian had been sentenced to an unspecified prison term following his conviction on charges that include espionage.
The 39-year-old Rezaian has dual American and Iranian citizenship. The Washington Post and his family say he had no involvement in spying.
The Post said Wednesday that it has submitted new information about Rezaian to a U.N. working group on arbitrary detention. Earlier this year, it appealed to the group to intervene in the case.
The new filing with the group details the lack of openness in his case and calls the legal proceedings “farcical.” His lawyer, Leila Ahsan, told The Associated Press she had not been informed of the verdict, let alone details of the sentence.
His brother said Rezaian’s family is worried about him.
“We’re really concerned about his health and we’re really concerned about him deteriorating even more,” said Ali Rezaian, 44, of Mill Velley, California.
He added: “There’s no excuse for holding Jason. He’s innocent. He’s been innocent from the beginning and they know that but they haven’t released him.”
Ali Rezaian delivered the petition — containing 533,000 signatures from people around the world — on a thumb drive. He spent about five minutes at the Iranian mission and then was escorted out.
Officials with the mission did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
U.N. human rights experts last month called for Rezaian to be released, and the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists has demanded the same. Last month, the CPJ said 30 journalists were behind bars in Iran in 2014, more than in any other country except China.
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