American journalist freed from an Iranian prison addresses the White House correspondents' dinner
(REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
Journalist Jason Rezaian and wife, Yeganeh Salehi, arrive on the red carpet for the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner in Washington, U.S., April 30, 2016.
Journalist Jason Rezaian made an appearance at the White House correspondents' dinner Saturday night.
Rezaian, 40, is a California-born Iranian-American who worked as The Washington Post's bureau chief in Iran's capital before he was arrested on accusations of espionage in July 2014.
Rezaian's wife, Yeganeh Salehi, who is also a journalist, was arrested with him, and freed three months later.
Rezaian was convicted and jailed for nearly two years. He was released last January.
President Barack Obama honored Rezaian at last year's correspondents' dinner, but this year, Rezaian addressed Obama — and an audience of his peers — directly.
"This is a big, intimidating room, but I can say that it beats solitary confinement," Rezaian quipped.
During his confinement, Rezaian had become a symbol of the importance of press freedom — a bulwark of American democracy that is far less valued in more hostile regions of the world.
Obama met Rezaian and Salehi at the State Department shortly after his release last year. The two met again on stage at the Washington Hilton hotel Saturday where Obama took another opportunity to underline the importance of journalistic freedom.
"Free press is once again why we honor Jason Rezaian," Obama said. He applauded Rezaian's courage in enduring his imprisonment. "This year, we see that courage in the flesh," Obama added.
Rezaian will spend the next year as a Nieman journalism fellow at Harvard University, according to The Boston Globe.
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