The trial for a Washington Post reporter held for more than a year in Iran ended on Monday, opening the door to a resolution of the case in the coming days.
Jason Rezaian underwent his fourth hearing in Tehran and a verdict could be delivered within a week, his lawyer told multiple news outlets.
{mosads}Monday’s hearing was held behind closed doors, and Rezaian’s mother and wife were barred from the courtroom.
Outside the courtroom, his mother, Mary Rezaian, denied that her son was involved with spying on Iran.
“If the judiciary is really independent, let them organize a public trial and prove whether my son has done anything wrong,” she said, according to The New York Times. “They cannot prove that he is a spy as there is no evidence.”
Rezaian, the Post’s bureau chief in Tehran, has been imprisoned for more than 12 months on espionage charges strongly refuted by the newspaper and his allies.
Martin Baron, The Washington Post executive editor, on Monday said that Rezaian had been subjected to a “sham trial” that should end immediately.
“His arrest, imprisonment, and now this sham trial contradict every standard required for the fair administration of justice, and they violate international law, Iran’s own laws and fundamental human decency,” Baron said in a statement.
“The only thing that is clear is Jason’s innocence.”
Rezaian’s physical condition has substantially worsened over the course of the last year, and he is suffering both “physically and psychologically,” Baron said.
He was arrested last July, along with his wife, Yeganeh Salehi — a fellow journalist — and two photojournalists. The other three people have since been freed.
His ongoing detention has frustrated the Obama administration and members of Congress, who are reviewing a multinational nuclear deal with Iran, with an eye toward a vote on the accord in mid-September.
The journalist is one of four Americans believed to be held in Iranian custody; some critics of the nuclear deal have accused the White House of turning a blind eye to their plight in other to complete the nuclear pact. The Obama administration has responded by saying that the imprisoned Americans are a separate issue that should be dealt with independently of Iran’s nuclear program.