National Press Club Recognizes Washington Post's Jason Rezaian As 2015 Winner of John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award

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Mar 12, 2015, 05:54 ET

WASHINGTON, March 12, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National Press Club President John Hughes announced that Jason Rezaian of The Washington Post has been chosen as the 2015 recipient of the Club's prestigious John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award.

Hughes, in remarks to a Club news conference and live webcast audience, said, "We expect Jason will be free to collect this award'' at an annual gala July 29. Hughes added, "Iran can set Jason free. We hope and believe the leaders will do the right thing. It is time -- it is past time -- for Jason to be released.''

Rezaian, the Tehran bureau chief for The Washington Post, was arrested by Iranian Security Forces while in his home in Iran on July 22, 2014. He has been in prison since then. No charges against him have been made public and he was denied access to medical care and a lawyer until recently.

Jason's brother, Ali Rezaian, gave an update on the situation. He said: "My mother was allowed to visit Jason around Christmas time. She asked Jason if he had any message for me. Jason said, 'Yes, tell Ali to get me out of here by my birthday.' Jason's birthday is March 15."

Ali said that no date has been set for Jason's trial but he is hopeful that a trial is coming soon – possibly at the end of March. He said he is glad that his brother finally has a lawyer but does not know if he has had a chance to actually talk to the lawyer yet.

Jason's editor, Douglas Jehl, Post Foreign Editor, said Jason had done nothing wrong. Jehl said Jason was a professional, accredited journalist who understood and followed rules related to reporting in Iran. He said it was outrageous that Jason had been taken in the manner he was and called for him to be freed. Jehl recalled that Jason really enjoyed his work and filed some interesting stories about life in Iran including one about the pioneering efforts of a small group of Iranians to learn to play the game of baseball.

Hughes pointed out that the Club had yesterday received a statement of support for Jason from Muhammad Ali, the great boxing champion. Ali Rezaian read the letter to the crowd. He called for mercy for Jason.

While the event was emotional, there was a theme of high technology throughout the day. In the morning, Ali Rezaian and Jehl participated in a satellite media tour, as they spoke to more than 20 TV and radio stations from the National Press Club Broadcast Studios.

At the news conference, Hughes recognized a team from Change.org, which has created an online petition that has gathered nearly 240,000 signatures. Also at the news conference, the Club showed two videos that tell the story of Jason's struggle. One is produced by The Washington Post and one by video producer Robbie Stauder. The videos are available at the links below.

The event was also livestreamed, and the link to the webcast is below. Look for more photos from the event coming soon to www.press.org.

Following are links to more information:

March 12 NPC news conference: http://www.press.org/FreeJason

Washington Post video: http://wapo.st/1wvFxa2[wapo.st]

Robbie Stauder video of Jason's mother:
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2015/mar/11/jason-rezaian-iran-jailed-journalist-mother-video

Contact: Bill McCarren, 202-662-7534 for the National Press Club

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SOURCE National Press Club