With how spread out everything is in the world, we often never get to hear the news that occurs in foreign countries. This is where journalists come in and make it their job to share news from around the world with readers. Some journalists even find themselves traveling to a different country all in order to inform people of the daily happenings there. However, one journalist has been punished for doing just that.
The home of Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post Bureau Chief in Iran, and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, was raided by Iranian authorities and the couple was taken into custody shortly afterwards on July 22, 2014. While Salehi was also a journalist, she was released on October 6th. Rezaian, on the other hand, remained in custody at the Evin Prison located in Iran. Evin is regarded as one of the most brutal prisons in the world; known for housing primarily political prisoners, academics, and journalists. With having spent over 450 days there, Rezaian faced four charges, a sentence of ten to twenty years, and only learned of his verdict by watching Iranian television.
Over the past year, family and friends have sought for ways to free Rezaian. A petition on change.org has accumulated over 470,000 signatures that calls for the release of Rezaian and upon reaching 500,000 signatures will be sent to the Judiciary Chief, President, and Supreme Leader of Iran. Meanwhile, the family had scavenged through his recent work in order to see if there was any information that triggered the Iranian government. While nothing alarming was found, people continue to be determined. In response to Rezaian’s ruling on October 11, his brother, Ali Rezaian, said, “Jason was simply a journalist doing his job and following all the rules when he was wrongly arrested and imprisoned in Tehran's infamous Evin prison He is an innocent man that has been kept under harsh conditions to the detriment of his health and his well-being. We remain hopeful that Jason will soon be released and reunited with this family.”
Overall, the reaction to this situation is quite mixed. You have those that believe that the verdict is wrong, that Rezaian was simply doing his job, or that the verdict was long overdue and unfair. “I think that it’s not right and it’s very reflective of Iran’s government.” Newtown High School biology teacher Tara Allegretto said.
Then you have those that are more skeptical about the situation. “I am no judge on whether or not he’s guilty, but it’d definitely be a different situation if it happened over here. Also, people should know just how dangerous it is to travel there for anything. And who knows how our media over-sensualized the situation.” NHS latin teacher Jennifer Huettner said.
Image Courtesy of dailystormer.com