NBC News reports: Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who was detained in Iran for more than 500 days on unspecified charges, filed a lawsuit against the Iranian government Monday, accusing Tehran of using his imprisonment as a bargaining chip with the U.S.
Rezaian, the Washington Post’s Tehran bureau chief since 2012, was arrested in 2014, along with his wife Yeganeh Salehi, by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) agents. Salehi was held at Evin Prison — a detention center for political prisoners — for 72 days. Rezaian was held at the same facility for 544 days before he was released on Jan. 16.
The federal lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C., Monday also lists Rezaian’s brother, Ali and mother, Mary, as plaintiffs. The suit is seeking damages for “severe personal injuries and other irreparable harm suffered as a result of defendants’ unlawful acts of terrorism, torture, hostage taking, and other torts.”
The lawsuit was first reported by the Washington Post.
The suit detailed Rezaian’s time in prison, saying he was held in prolonged solitary confinement, deprived of sleep, adequate food and necessary medical attention, interrogated twice a day and threatened with torture, including dismemberment, and death.
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