Jailed Journalist's Mother Breaks Her Silence; Imagine a World
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST (voice-over): Tonight: a mother's anguish, one whose son is the longest held Western journalist in an Iranian prison, Mary Rezaian appeals for his release in her first TV interview. And June Steenkamp, mourning the death of her daughter, Reeva. She tells us of her sorrow and her hope now that Oscar Pistorius faces another trial.</s>AMANPOUR: Hello, everyone, and welcome to this special edition of our program. I'm Christiane Amanpour. For five months now journalist Jason Rezaian has been languishing in an Iranian jail. His crime? We still don't know. No public explanation has been given for the American Iranian's arrest but now a judge in Tehran has formally charged him. And tonight Jason's mother, Mary, reveals her worst fears, that he's been falsely accused of espionage. Rezaian is "The Washington Post" correspondent in Tehran and the paper says that he and his wife, who was released on bail in October, were arrested under murky circumstances. I've asked top Iranian government officials about Jason's case, including President Rouhani, and none has given us a clear answer to why he's in prison. So Jason's mother has decided to break her long silence and, in her first TV interview since his arrest, she is publicly appealing for his freedom amid growing fears about his physical and mental health.</s>AMANPOUR: Mary Rezaian, welcome to the program.</s>MARY REZAIAN, JASON REZAIAN'S MOTHER: Thank you so much.</s>AMANPOUR: Thank you for joining me. It must be agony for you. How do you get through every day?</s>MARY REZAIAN: With prayers from people around the world and support and the incredible work that my older son is doing, Ali. He has been working nonstop to get his brother released.</s>AMANPOUR: What do you know about how Jason is being treated?</s>MARY REZAIAN: Well, I know some things about the condition at the prison. I know that they're very sparse. I know that they're not very clean. And I know that he has developed some health issues, which have not been attended to for a very long period of time. This is in addition to his ongoing --</s>AMANPOUR: And his ongoing health issues are.?</s>MARY REZAIAN: -- he has an enlarged heart. And so he has been on blood pressure medication for many years. I realize that he's carried a lot of weight around. He loves Persian food. But he's lost a tremendous amount of weight in a very short period of time, apparently, and that is very harmful for a body.</s>AMANPOUR: You spoke to him on Thanksgiving. He was able to call you.</s>MARY REZAIAN: Yes.</s>AMANPOUR: Did you expect it? Was it out of the blue?</s>MARY REZAIAN: It was out of the blue. It was out of the blue. I believe I can say that my daughter-in-law called me, frantically. She said, the prison is trying to contact you. And -- oh, my, I'm seeing his picture and it's in front of me here. The prison is trying to contact you and I said, well, I'm not home. We provided him with a number and then he immediately called. They had given him a calling card.</s>AMANPOUR: And it was the first time you'd spoken since he'd been arrested.</s>MARY REZAIAN: Absolutely, yes.</s>AMANPOUR: And what did you talk about?</s>MARY REZAIAN: Well, we talked about how strange it was to be talking to one another that way. We were somewhat bemused because neither of -- neither of us had any advance warning. We talked about past Thanksgivings with people who are now departed. We both choked up a number of times.</s>AMANPOUR: And they didn't want you to know that he was in a prison.</s>MARY REZAIAN: No. He said they want you to know that I am not in a prison. I'm in a detention center and that they're treating me very well.</s>AMANPOUR: So they just wanted to put their spin on it. So now the big question, Mary, why did your son get arrested?</s>MARY REZAIAN: I wish I knew the answer to that. He is a credentialed journalist who's been working in Iran for over 10 years and has never done anything to, in any way, bring attention to himself. So I don't know. And I really cannot comment about theories.</s>AMANPOUR: We have spoken -- and I have asked the top, top levels of the Iranian government from the president to the head of -- the speaker of the Majlis to -- his own brother has been interviewed on this show, who is Iran's human rights chief. What is it; why have they taken Jason? Now his brother has said that this whole situation is a fiasco.</s>MARY REZAIAN: Indeed.</s>AMANPOUR: He's also said the following -- and let's play a little bit about what Mr. Larijani told us.</s>ALI LARIJANI, CHAIRMAN, PARLIAMENT OF IRAN: Well, the prosecutor considered them accusations that could be, that could be well founded. So during the court process, it will be definitely explained and determined whether they are serious charges or they could be dropped.</s>AMANPOUR: This was before he was charged.</s>MARY REZAIAN: Yes.</s>AMANPOUR: He has now been charged.</s>MARY REZAIAN: Yes.</s>AMANPOUR: And you see Mr. Larijani saying everything will be explained. Has anything been explained?</s>MARY REZAIAN: Not to us. Not to us.</s>AMANPOUR: Do you know what he's been charged with?</s>MARY REZAIAN: I have no idea. But I'm told that they are serious charges and that they relate to espionage.</s>AMANPOUR: Let me read you something that our own colleague, Anthony Bourdain, wrote in a -- in "The Washington Post," actually, shortly after hearing that Jason had been arrested. He basically says about Jason and his wife, "They are deeply proud of their heritage and the country they were helping to show me. They wanted the best for it and they were great emissaries on its behalf." I mean, there's no doubt in your mind that Jason was happy to be there.</s>MARY REZAIAN: No doubt whatsoever. He loves Iran and he took it upon himself to try to show modern Iran to the rest of the world, to the Western world, that's been closed out for several years.</s>AMANPOUR: I want to play now a little bit of Jason's interview with Anthony Bourdain.</s>ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN HOST: Do you like it? Are you happy here?</s>JASON REZAIAN, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Look, I am at a point now after five years where I miss certain things about home. I miss my buddies. I miss burritos. I miss having certain beverages with my buddies and burritos --</s>JASON REZAIAN: -- in certain types of establishments. But I love it. I love it -- and I hate it. You know. But it's home.</s>AMANPOUR: So there he is, as natural as ever, saying "I love it; it's home." How do you feel watching that?</s>MARY REZAIAN: I understand from Yegi that he still loves Iran, even during this detention.</s>AMANPOUR: And Yegi is Yeganeh --</s>AMANPOUR: -- his wife, who herself was arrested and is now, what, out on bail?</s>MARY REZAIAN: She's out on bail but, as she has said to me, they let me loose from the prison but I'm just in a larger prison. And until my husband is released, I can't begin to live.</s>AMANPOUR: What is your hope and your fear for your son?</s>MARY REZAIAN: My hope is that the Supreme Leader will review his case and determine that it is baseless, that the charges are baseless and that they will both be free to leave. Yegi has been told she cannot work.</s>AMANPOUR: Can she leave?</s>MARY REZAIAN: Not at this point. They have her passport.</s>AMANPOUR: Did you want to address something specifically to the Supreme Leader?</s>MARY REZAIAN: Yes. Respectfully, sir, I ask you free my son, Jason Rezaian. Jason loves Iran. He would never do anything to hurt Iran, to bring shame to Iran. It is my intention to come to Iran. I'm asking, sir, for your time to sit and discuss Jason's case, also time with President Rouhani. I'm asking that you allow me the time and the guarantee that I will be able to meet with my son and will be able to leave, I would hope, with both Jason and Yeganeh.</s>AMANPOUR: It's a heartfelt plea. Has Jason even had a lawyer? Has he been visited by any kind of representation, whether it's diplomatic representation or legal representation?</s>MARY REZAIAN: Neither. We have hired a lawyer who represents Ali, my son, and I. But up until the time of the actual charges, Jason was not permitted access to a lawyer.</s>AMANPOUR: So when you talked to him on Thanksgiving Day, did you think he was about to be released?</s>MARY REZAIAN: I did. I did. We had every expectation -- based in part on what Mr. Larijani and others have said, that things were proceeding. And really, it's been a sort of a roller coaster over the last five months, because there have been numerous times when we thought we were very close. When Yeganeh was released, she was told, "Your husband will join you in a week or 10 days." So we were gearing up after that.</s>AMANPOUR: This is the first time you've spoken out. Why have you not spoken in these several months since he has been in prison? And now he is the longest serving Western journalist to be in an Iranian prison.</s>MARY REZAIAN: As I said, there were numerous times when we had indications that his release was imminent. There were also a number of things happening in the world and we felt that this was the way to go. Now that he has been charged -- and it sounds like they're very, very serious charges, which involve a long prison sentence, Jason is -- Jason's health is in question. His continued mental state is in question simply because I understand he's been in chronic pain.</s>AMANPOUR: Did he sound fragile to you? You talk about his mental -- I assume you mean his emotional state --</s>AMANPOUR: -- the psychological burden that he's under.</s>MARY REZAIAN: Yes, indeed.</s>AMANPOUR: Did he talk about that?</s>MARY REZAIAN: No. We did not address that at all.</s>AMANPOUR: And he's in solitary?</s>MARY REZAIAN: As far as I know, yes. I asked him about his back pain because I had learned through relatives that that had become an issue and he said it's better; I have a bed now. So -- but I don't know if he still has a bed. I don't know if, after that phone call, things changed and he's back in solitary.</s>AMANPOUR: So you want to go and visit him?</s>MARY REZAIAN: I do want to visit him. Yes, I want to see how he is and to give him my support.</s>AMANPOUR: Mary Rezaian, we wish you luck and thank you very much for being here.</s>MARY REZAIAN: Thank you so very much.</s>AMANPOUR: And from a courtroom in Tehran to a courtroom in Pretoria, where murder charges against Oscar Pistorius are being reconsidered. Is this a step towards justice for the family of Reeva Steenkamp? We speak to her mother, June, after a break.