Obama Reiterates Efforts to Free Jason Rezaian

On the eve of World Press Freedom Day, Barack Obama, the President of the United States, invited three non-American journalists to the White House to discuss the situation of pressured journalists in various countries, including Jason Rezaian, who is imprisoned in Iran. According to the Associated Press, Mr. Obama on Friday, April 30, reiterated his commitment to work for the release of journalists like Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter who is imprisoned in Iran. Jason Rezaian, an Iranian-American journalist for the Washington Post, and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, a reporter for the Emirati newspaper The National, were arrested on July 22, 2014. Ms. Salehi was released on bail after a while, but Mr. Rezaian has spent more than 9 months in prison. Leila Ehsan, the lawyer for the imprisoned Washington Post journalist in Iran, stated that her client is to be tried on charges of 'espionage', 'collaborating with hostile governments', 'gathering confidential information', and 'propaganda against the Islamic Republic'. The United States and the Washington Post have described the charges against Mr. Rezaian as 'absurd and baseless'. Barack Obama also committed on Saturday, April 24, during the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner to use all his power to ensure Jason Rezaian's freedom. Sunday, May 3, is World Press Freedom Day, and the journalists invited to the White House for this occasion are from Russia, Vietnam, and Ethiopia, all of whom have faced torture and imprisonment while doing their work. The President of the United States stated in his meeting with these journalists that it is important for the United States to strive for press freedom in other countries. In his remarks on Friday, Barack Obama also mentioned journalists such as Steven Sotloff, James Foley, and Luke Somers, who were killed by ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliates.