Committee to Protect Journalists' 2015 Annual Report Highlights the Ongoing Iranian Detention of Washington Post Journalist Jason Rezaian

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released their Annual Report, which documents the crisis of imprisoned journalists across the globe. The 2015 Report highlights the case of Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post journalist who has been held illegally in Iran's infamous Evin Prison for more than 500 days. Jason's brother, Ali Rezaian, had this to say:

"I want to thank the Committee to Protect Journalists for their work and advocacy in promoting the freedom and liberty of journalists around the world and their ongoing support for my brother Jason. No one should be punished for his or her work as a journalist. Yet talented journalists are being harassed and imprisoned for simply doing their job. Unfortunately, too often, journalists like Jason have been jailed and had their lives disrupted despite no wrongdoing. This is an injustice by any standard, and should not be tolerated. I commend the CPJ for its relentless efforts to draw attention to these cases and for their critical role in helping to hold governments and judicial systems accountable for their baseless actions against journalists. We must do all we can to make sure that innocent journalists, like Jason, are set free."

The CPJ reports that 199 journalists worldwide are currently imprisoned because of their work. Iran currently detains more journalists than any country other than China and Egypt.

The CPJ Report highlights the severity of Jason's imprisonment, even among other tragic cases:

"The Washington Post's Jason Rezaian, who has been held longer than any U.S. correspondent by any foreign government since CPJ began tracking imprisonments in 1990, is accused of espionage, among other charges. State media has reported that he has been convicted and sentenced, but has not said on which charges or provided any other detail."

To read the full report, please follow: https://cpj.org/imprisoned/2015.php

To find out more about Jason's case, please visit: www.FreeJason.net

SOURCE Ali Rezaian