Jason Rezaian, Washington Post Reporter Imprisoned in Tehran, Is Subjected to ‘Kafkaesque Restrictions,’ Editor Says

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/world/middleeast/jason-rezaian-washington-post-reporter-imprisoned-in-tehran-will-be-permitted-one-hour-of-pretrial-time-with-lawyer.html

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Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post’s Tehran correspondent imprisoned for nearly nine months on unexplained charges, has been subjected to “Kafkaesque restrictions” that include only one hour of pretrial time with a defense lawyer — and that meeting has not yet happened, the newspaper’s executive editor said Tuesday.

In a statement, the editor, Martin Baron, said Mr. Rezaian and the lawyer, Leila Ahsan, were supposed to meet next week for their one session.

Mr. Rezaian’s arrest and incarceration have compounded the irritants in the estranged relations between the United States and Iran as they struggle to achieve a final agreement on the disputed Iranian nuclear program.

A report on Sunday by Iran’s Fars News Agency added to the tensions by asserting without attribution that Mr. Rezaian might have spied for the United States by providing data about the effects of Western sanctions on Iranian companies. The Post and Mr. Rezaian’s family and friends have called that accusation false and ridiculous.

Mr. Baron’s statement on Tuesday was issued in part to clarify what he described as a misunderstanding in an Associated Press article on Sunday about the Fars report, in which Ms. Ahsan was quoted as saying that she met with Mr. Rezaian last month in prison and could meet with him “anytime,” and that he appeared in good health.

“Jason has still not held a substantive discussion with Leila,” Mr. Baron said. “Their only meeting took place several weeks ago in a judge’s chambers before Leila had formally been designated as his counsel. They were not permitted to discuss Jason’s case or the charges he faces, which still have not been publicly disclosed.”

Mr. Baron also reiterated the position of the newspaper, as well as that of Mr. Rezaian’s family and friends, that he had done nothing wrong and had been subjected to harsh interrogation in prison, months of solitary confinement and poor conditions that imperiled his health.

“These kinds of Kafkaesque restrictions reflect the abject unfairness that Iran has shown at every turn in its handling of Jason’s case,” he said.

Mr. Rezaian, a 39-year-old with dual citizenship in the United States and Iran, was arrested July 22 along with his Iranian wife, Yeganeh Salehi, who is a journalist for a United Arab Emirates newspaper, and two other Iranians. The others were later released on bail.