Washington Post correspondent jailed in Iran gets lawyer, but not attorney the family wanted
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this April 11, 2013 file photo, Jason Rezaian, right, an Iranian-American correspondent for the Washington Post, and his wife Yeganeh Salehi, an Iranian correspondent for the Abu Dhabi-based daily newspaper, The National, smile as they attend a presidential campaign of President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, Iran. The family of Rezaian who is detained in Iran says authorities there have allowed him to hire a lawyer after more than seven months behind bars, though it is not the attorney they had hoped for. Rezaian was detained in Tehran on July 22, 2014 along with Salehi, and two photojournalists. Rezaian, who was born and spent most of his life in the United States, is the only one of the four still behind bars. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File) (The Associated Press)
The family of a Washington Post correspondent detained in Iran says authorities there have allowed him to hire a lawyer after more than seven months behind bars, though it is not the attorney they had hoped for.
Jason Rezaian's brother and mother said in a statement issued on Sunday that attorney Leila Ahsan will represent the journalist. She is also the lawyer for Rezaian's wife, Yeganeh Salehi, a reporter for the Abu Dhabi-based National newspaper who was arrested with Rezaian on July 22. Salehi was released in October.
Rezaian's brother, Ali, told The Associated Press last month that a lawyer the family wanted for the journalist's defense had been unable to complete formalities to defend him. That attorney, Masoud Shafiei, previously represented three American hikers arrested by Iran in 2009.