Ken Berwitz
Why is Jason Rezaian still in an Iranian prison? Why isn\’t he home, in the United States?
Jason Rezaian is a Washington Post reporter, who was on assignment in Iran. Over a year ago he was arrested and charged with “crimes” – which is Iranspeak for “we have a reporter we\’re holding, which should give us leverage in the \’deal\’ we are cutting with those two inept jokes, Barack Obama and John Kerry)”.
Well, we now find out that Mr. Rezaian has been convicted of those “crimes” – in a secret tribunal of some kind, in which no one has any idea what evidence was produced, if any was at all).
Here is the reaction from Washington Post Executive Editor, Martin Baron:
“Iran has behaved unconscionably throughout this case, but never more so than with this indefensible decision by a Revolutionary Court to convict an innocent journalist of serious crimes after a proceeding that unfolded in secret, with no evidence whatsoever of any wrongdoing. For now, no sentence has been announced.
“We are working with Jason\’s family and Iranian counsel to pursue an immediate appeal, and we expect Jason\’s lawyer, Leila Ahsan, also to petition for Jason to be released on bail pending a final resolution of the case.
“The contemptible end to this \’judicial process\’ leaves Iran\’s senior leaders with an obligation to right this grievous wrong. Jason is a victim — arrested without cause, held for months in isolation, without access to a lawyer, subjected to physical mistreatment and psychological abuse, and now convicted without basis. He has spent nearly 15 months locked up in Iran\’s notorious Evin Prison, more than three times as long than any other Western journalists.
“The only thing that has ever been clear about this case is Jason\’s innocence. Any fair and just review would quickly overturn this unfounded verdict. Jason should be exonerated and released; he and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, who has been out on bail, should both be granted, without delay, the full freedom that is their right.”
Strong words. I\’ll just bet Iran\’s rulling terrorists are shaking in their boots.
This, I think, is a good time – a perfect time – to remind the Post that it, along with a great many other mainstream media venues, have spent the last year mostly defending the “deal\’ cooked up with Iran by President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry – a deal which did not bother to address Mr. Rezaian, or the three other (that we know of) U.S. prisoners being held in Iran\’s jails without anything even remotely resembling credible charges.
Knowing how Iran operates, it is likely that these innocent unfortunates were accumulated for use as leverage to get a better deal with Obama and Kerry. I wonder if Iran would have done so if its leaders had realized – as is entirely clear now – that holding innocent Americans captive was not necessary; that Obama and Kerry would cave in on every major issue, even without them having to be handed over.
Maybe now the Post – and, who knows, even some of the other stalwart Obama defenders who have spent 7 years rationalizing Mr. Obama\’s ineptitude, incompetence and disregard of constitutional law (how many ObamaCare changes were unilaterally put in place? How long did he bomb Libya without congressional authorization? etc. etc etc.) – will start seriously reporting about it.
Too late for Jason Rezaian, though – at least as of now.
Under what passes for Iranian law, an appeal can be filed within the next 20 days. Let\’s see what further concessions Iran demands before giving Rezaian up…while holding the others.
And let\’s see what President Obama has to say about this.
Don\’t count on much though: if Barack Obama had a son, he wouldn\’t look anything like Jason Rezaian.
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