Imprisoned Washington Post Journalist able to celebrate part of Christmas with family
By Mallory Thompson and Allison Brennan, CNN
Updated 4:50 PM ET, Sat December 26, 2015
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
American journalist Peter Theo Curtis was handed over to U.N. peacekeepers in August 2014 after nearly two years in captivity. He is believed to have been captured in October 2012 and held by the al-Nusra Front, a Syrian rebel group with ties to al Qaeda.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Alan Gross, at right with Rabbi Arthur Schneier, was jailed while working as a subcontractor in Cuba in December 2009. Cuban authorities say Gross tried to set up illegal Internet connections on the island. Gross says he was just trying to help connect the Jewish community to the Internet. Former President Jimmy Carter and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson both traveled to Cuba on Gross' behalf. He was eventually released in December.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
This undated image provided by the U.S. Army shows Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had been held by insurgents in Afghanistan since 2009. The White House announced Bergdahl's release on May 31, 2014. Bergdahl was released in exchange for five senior Taliban members held by the U.S. military. In March, the U.S. military charged Bergdahl with one count each of "Desertion with Intent to Shirk Important or Hazardous Duty," and "Misbehavior Before The Enemy by Endangering the Safety of a Command, Unit or Place."
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
U.S. tourist and Korean War veteran Merrill Newman arrives at the Beijing airport on December 7, 2013, after being released by North Korea. Newman was detained in October 2013 by North Korean authorities just minutes before he was to depart the country after visiting through an organized tour. His son Jeff Newman said the Palo Alto, California, man had all the proper paperwork and set up his trip through a North Korean-approved travel agency.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Y – Mexican authorities arrested Yanira Maldonado, a U.S. citizen, right, in May 2013, for alleged drug possession. She and her husband, Gary, were traveling from Mexico back to the United States when their bus was stopped and searched. She was released a few days later and is now back in the United States.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
North Korea has arrested Americans before, only to release them after a visit by a prominent dignitary. Journalists Laura Ling, center, and Euna Lee, to her left, spent 140 days in captivity after being charged with illegal entry to conduct a smear campaign. They were freed in 2009 after a trip by former President Bill Clinton.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Former President Jimmy Carter negotiated the release of Aijalon Gomes, who was detained in 2010 after crossing into North Korea illegally from China. Analysts say high-level visits give Pyongyang a propaganda boost and a way to save face when it releases a prisoner.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Detained in April 2011, Eddie Yong Su Jun was released by North Korea a month afterward. His alleged crime was not provided to the media. The American delegation that secured his freedom included Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Without any apparent U.S. intervention, Robert Park was released by North Korea in 2010. The Christian missionary crossed into North Korea from China, carrying a letter asking Kim Jong Il to free political prisoners and resign. North Korea's state-run news agency said Park was released after an "admission and sincere repentance of his wrongdoings." Here, Park holds a photo of Kim and a malnourished child during a protest in Seoul.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Josh Fattal, center; Sarah Shourd, left; and Shane Bauer were detained by Iran while hiking near the Iraq-Iran border in July 2009. Iran charged them with illegal entry and espionage. Shourd was released on bail for medical reasons in September 2010; she never returned to face her charges. Bauer and Fattal were convicted in August 2011, but the next month they were released on bail and had their sentences commuted.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Haleh Esfandiari, an Iranian-American scholar, was detained at Iran's Evin Prison, spending months in solitary confinement before Iran released her on bail in August 2007. Esfandiari was visiting her ailing mother in Tehran when she was arrested and charged with harming Iran's national security.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Sixteen Americans were among the dozens arrested in December 2011 when Egypt raided the offices of 10 nongovernmental organizations that it said received illegal foreign financing and were operating without a public license. Many of the employees posted bail and left the country after a travel ban was lifted a few months later. Robert Becker, right, chose to stay and stand trial. He spent two years in prison and has since returned to the United States.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Filmmaker Timothy Tracy was arrested in Venezuela in April 2013 on allegations of funding opponents of newly elected President Nicolas Maduro, successor to the late Hugo Chavez. Tracy went to Venezuela to make a documentary about the political division gripping the country. He was released in June 2013.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Siamak Namazi, a Dubai-based businessman with dual U.S. and Iranian citizenship, was detained while visiting relatives in Tehran, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, October 29, citing unnamed sources. The Washington Post also reported his detention, citing a family friend who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Post reported that it wasn't clear what Namazi is alleged to have done. His detention would bring to five the number of Americans detained or unaccounted for in the Islamic republic.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post's bureau chief in Tehran, was convicted by an Iranian Revolutionary Courtin October 2015, according to Iran's state-run media. Rezaian was reportedly facing up to 20 years, but the sentence was not specified. The journalist was taken into custody in July 2014 and later charged with espionage; the Post has denied all allegations against him. His wife, Yeganeh Salehi, also was detained in July 2014 but later released.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Scott Darden was taken hostage by Houthi rebels in Yemen on March 27. He was captured while working for New Orleans-based Transoceanic Development, according to a source close to his family.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
A 33-year-old U.S. citizen of Iranian birth, Saeed Abedini was sentenced to eight years in prison in January 2013. He was accused of attempting to undermine the Iranian government and endangering national security by establishing home churches. He was detained in Iran on September 26, 2012, according to the American Center for Law and Justice.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Retired FBI agent Robert Levinson has been missing since 2007. His family says he was working as a private investigator in Iran when he disappeared, and multiple reports suggest Levinson may have been working for the CIA. His family told CNN in January that they have long known that Levinson worked for the CIA, and they said it's time for the government to lay out the facts about Levinson's case. U.S. officials have consistently denied publicly that Levinson was working for the government, but they have repeatedly insisted that finding him and bringing him home is a "top" priority. The FBI increased its reward for information on Levinson from $1 million to $5 million, it announced in March.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
An Iranian court threw out a 2011 death sentence for Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine charged with spying. But he was secretly retried in Iran and convicted of "practical collaboration with the U.S. government," his sister told CNN on April 11. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, she said. Hekmati was detained in August 2011 during a visit to see his grandmother. His family and the Obama administration deny accusations he was spying for the CIA.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Mothers Linda Boyle, left, and Lyn Coleman hold photo of their married children, Joshua Boyle and Caitlin Coleman, who were kidnapped by the Taliban in late 2012. Coleman was pregnant when she was kidnapped and is believed to have had a child in captivity.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Jailed since 2013 and sentenced to life for supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Mohamed Soltan has been released, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo said on May 30. Soltan's family denies he belonged to the Brotherhood. Soltan had been a dual U.S. and Egyptian citizen, but he renounced his Egyptian citizenship as a condition of his release.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
U.S. officials revealed on April 23 that Warren Weinstein, a 73-year-old American aid worker that had been held hostage in Pakistan since August 2011, had been accidentally killed in a U.S. drone strike targeting al Qaeda.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
One of three Americans detained in North Korea, Jeffrey Edward Fowle was released and sent home, a State Department official told CNN in October 2014. Fowle was accused of leaving a Bible in a hotel where he was staying. North Korea announced Fowle's detention in June, saying he had violated the law by acting "contrary to the purpose of tourism." Fowle told CNN: "I've admitted my guilt to the government and signed a statement to that effect and requested forgiveness from the people and the government of the DPRK."
Hide Caption
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
In May 2013, a North Korean court sentenced Kenneth Bae, a U.S. citizen, to 15 years of hard labor for committing "hostile acts" against the state. North Korea claimed Bae was part of a Christian plot to overthrow the regime. In a short interview with CNN in September 2014, Bae said he is working eight hours a day, six days a week at a labor camp. "Right now what I can say to my friends and family is, continue to pray for me," he said. After months in detention, he and fellow American detainee Matthew Todd Miller were released in November.
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Miller, an American sentenced to six years of hard labor in North Korea, was one of three Americans who spoke to CNN's Will Ripley in September 2014 and implored the U.S. government for help. The 24-year-old was accused of tearing up his tourist visa and seeking asylum upon entry to North Korea.
Hide Caption
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25 photos: Americans detained abroad
American journalist Peter Theo Curtis was handed over to U.N. peacekeepers in August 2014 after nearly two years in captivity. He is believed to have been captured in October 2012 and held by the al-Nusra Front, a Syrian rebel group with ties to al Qaeda.
Hide Caption
13 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Alan Gross, at right with Rabbi Arthur Schneier, was jailed while working as a subcontractor in Cuba in December 2009. Cuban authorities say Gross tried to set up illegal Internet connections on the island. Gross says he was just trying to help connect the Jewish community to the Internet. Former President Jimmy Carter and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson both traveled to Cuba on Gross' behalf. He was eventually released in December.
Hide Caption
14 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
This undated image provided by the U.S. Army shows Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had been held by insurgents in Afghanistan since 2009. The White House announced Bergdahl's release on May 31, 2014. Bergdahl was released in exchange for five senior Taliban members held by the U.S. military. In March, the U.S. military charged Bergdahl with one count each of "Desertion with Intent to Shirk Important or Hazardous Duty," and "Misbehavior Before The Enemy by Endangering the Safety of a Command, Unit or Place."
Hide Caption
15 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
U.S. tourist and Korean War veteran Merrill Newman arrives at the Beijing airport on December 7, 2013, after being released by North Korea. Newman was detained in October 2013 by North Korean authorities just minutes before he was to depart the country after visiting through an organized tour. His son Jeff Newman said the Palo Alto, California, man had all the proper paperwork and set up his trip through a North Korean-approved travel agency.
Hide Caption
16 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Y – Mexican authorities arrested Yanira Maldonado, a U.S. citizen, right, in May 2013, for alleged drug possession. She and her husband, Gary, were traveling from Mexico back to the United States when their bus was stopped and searched. She was released a few days later and is now back in the United States.
Hide Caption
17 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
North Korea has arrested Americans before, only to release them after a visit by a prominent dignitary. Journalists Laura Ling, center, and Euna Lee, to her left, spent 140 days in captivity after being charged with illegal entry to conduct a smear campaign. They were freed in 2009 after a trip by former President Bill Clinton.
Hide Caption
18 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Former President Jimmy Carter negotiated the release of Aijalon Gomes, who was detained in 2010 after crossing into North Korea illegally from China. Analysts say high-level visits give Pyongyang a propaganda boost and a way to save face when it releases a prisoner.
Hide Caption
19 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Detained in April 2011, Eddie Yong Su Jun was released by North Korea a month afterward. His alleged crime was not provided to the media. The American delegation that secured his freedom included Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues.
Hide Caption
20 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Without any apparent U.S. intervention, Robert Park was released by North Korea in 2010. The Christian missionary crossed into North Korea from China, carrying a letter asking Kim Jong Il to free political prisoners and resign. North Korea's state-run news agency said Park was released after an "admission and sincere repentance of his wrongdoings." Here, Park holds a photo of Kim and a malnourished child during a protest in Seoul.
Hide Caption
21 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Josh Fattal, center; Sarah Shourd, left; and Shane Bauer were detained by Iran while hiking near the Iraq-Iran border in July 2009. Iran charged them with illegal entry and espionage. Shourd was released on bail for medical reasons in September 2010; she never returned to face her charges. Bauer and Fattal were convicted in August 2011, but the next month they were released on bail and had their sentences commuted.
Hide Caption
22 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Haleh Esfandiari, an Iranian-American scholar, was detained at Iran's Evin Prison, spending months in solitary confinement before Iran released her on bail in August 2007. Esfandiari was visiting her ailing mother in Tehran when she was arrested and charged with harming Iran's national security.
Hide Caption
23 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Sixteen Americans were among the dozens arrested in December 2011 when Egypt raided the offices of 10 nongovernmental organizations that it said received illegal foreign financing and were operating without a public license. Many of the employees posted bail and left the country after a travel ban was lifted a few months later. Robert Becker, right, chose to stay and stand trial. He spent two years in prison and has since returned to the United States.
Hide Caption
24 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Filmmaker Timothy Tracy was arrested in Venezuela in April 2013 on allegations of funding opponents of newly elected President Nicolas Maduro, successor to the late Hugo Chavez. Tracy went to Venezuela to make a documentary about the political division gripping the country. He was released in June 2013.
Hide Caption
25 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Siamak Namazi, a Dubai-based businessman with dual U.S. and Iranian citizenship, was detained while visiting relatives in Tehran, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, October 29, citing unnamed sources. The Washington Post also reported his detention, citing a family friend who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Post reported that it wasn't clear what Namazi is alleged to have done. His detention would bring to five the number of Americans detained or unaccounted for in the Islamic republic.
Hide Caption
1 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post's bureau chief in Tehran, was convicted by an Iranian Revolutionary Courtin October 2015, according to Iran's state-run media. Rezaian was reportedly facing up to 20 years, but the sentence was not specified. The journalist was taken into custody in July 2014 and later charged with espionage; the Post has denied all allegations against him. His wife, Yeganeh Salehi, also was detained in July 2014 but later released.
Hide Caption
2 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Scott Darden was taken hostage by Houthi rebels in Yemen on March 27. He was captured while working for New Orleans-based Transoceanic Development, according to a source close to his family.
Hide Caption
3 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
A 33-year-old U.S. citizen of Iranian birth, Saeed Abedini was sentenced to eight years in prison in January 2013. He was accused of attempting to undermine the Iranian government and endangering national security by establishing home churches. He was detained in Iran on September 26, 2012, according to the American Center for Law and Justice.
Hide Caption
4 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Retired FBI agent Robert Levinson has been missing since 2007. His family says he was working as a private investigator in Iran when he disappeared, and multiple reports suggest Levinson may have been working for the CIA. His family told CNN in January that they have long known that Levinson worked for the CIA, and they said it's time for the government to lay out the facts about Levinson's case. U.S. officials have consistently denied publicly that Levinson was working for the government, but they have repeatedly insisted that finding him and bringing him home is a "top" priority. The FBI increased its reward for information on Levinson from $1 million to $5 million, it announced in March.
Hide Caption
5 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
An Iranian court threw out a 2011 death sentence for Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine charged with spying. But he was secretly retried in Iran and convicted of "practical collaboration with the U.S. government," his sister told CNN on April 11. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, she said. Hekmati was detained in August 2011 during a visit to see his grandmother. His family and the Obama administration deny accusations he was spying for the CIA.
Hide Caption
6 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Mothers Linda Boyle, left, and Lyn Coleman hold photo of their married children, Joshua Boyle and Caitlin Coleman, who were kidnapped by the Taliban in late 2012. Coleman was pregnant when she was kidnapped and is believed to have had a child in captivity.
Hide Caption
7 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Jailed since 2013 and sentenced to life for supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Mohamed Soltan has been released, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo said on May 30. Soltan's family denies he belonged to the Brotherhood. Soltan had been a dual U.S. and Egyptian citizen, but he renounced his Egyptian citizenship as a condition of his release.
Hide Caption
8 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
U.S. officials revealed on April 23 that Warren Weinstein, a 73-year-old American aid worker that had been held hostage in Pakistan since August 2011, had been accidentally killed in a U.S. drone strike targeting al Qaeda.
Hide Caption
9 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
One of three Americans detained in North Korea, Jeffrey Edward Fowle was released and sent home, a State Department official told CNN in October 2014. Fowle was accused of leaving a Bible in a hotel where he was staying. North Korea announced Fowle's detention in June, saying he had violated the law by acting "contrary to the purpose of tourism." Fowle told CNN: "I've admitted my guilt to the government and signed a statement to that effect and requested forgiveness from the people and the government of the DPRK."
Hide Caption
10 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
In May 2013, a North Korean court sentenced Kenneth Bae, a U.S. citizen, to 15 years of hard labor for committing "hostile acts" against the state. North Korea claimed Bae was part of a Christian plot to overthrow the regime. In a short interview with CNN in September 2014, Bae said he is working eight hours a day, six days a week at a labor camp. "Right now what I can say to my friends and family is, continue to pray for me," he said. After months in detention, he and fellow American detainee Matthew Todd Miller were released in November.
Hide Caption
11 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
Miller, an American sentenced to six years of hard labor in North Korea, was one of three Americans who spoke to CNN's Will Ripley in September 2014 and implored the U.S. government for help. The 24-year-old was accused of tearing up his tourist visa and seeking asylum upon entry to North Korea.
Hide Caption
12 of 25
25 photos: Americans detained abroad
American journalist Peter Theo Curtis was handed over to U.N. peacekeepers in August 2014 after nearly two years in captivity. He is believed to have been captured in October 2012 and held by the al-Nusra Front, a Syrian rebel group with ties to al Qaeda.
Hide Caption
13 of 25
Story highlights
- Jason Rezaian has been held captive for more than 500 days by the Iranian government
- An Iranian court sentenced him to an unspecified length after being charged with espionage and other serious infractions
(CNN)Imprisoned Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian got a surprise Christmas gift Friday while being held in an Iranian prison. Rezaian, who has been held captive for more than 500 days by the Iranian government, was able to spend some time with his family at the prison.
"After several efforts, Yegi and I were able to secure permissions from the court to meet with Jason for several hours today, Christmas," his mother Mary said in an email to the Post. "We had a wonderful time together reminiscing of holidays past," she wrote.
His brother, Ali, confirmed to CNN Jason's mother did send that email to the Post and that she and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, "were able to meet and have lunch together. It was the longest meeting Jason's mother has had with him since she first traveled to Iran last December," Ali Rezaian told CNN.
His mother's email also included a message from her son to his colleagues: "Jason is sending his warmest nondenominational Season's Greetings to everyone at The Post. And wishes for a very happy and productive New Year ... He knows you all are working harder than any other entity to secure his release. And the knowledge of that is what gives him strength every day."
Rezaian, The Washington Post's bureau chief in Tehran, was detained in Iran in July 2014 and has been incarcerated in Evin prison since then. Last month, an Iranian court sentenced him to prison for an unspecified length after being charged with espionage and other serious infractions, including "collaborating with a hostile government" and "propaganda against the establishment."
Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron said in a statement, "It is a happy occasion for them and for all of us. And yet, we have to note, this visit is a rare exception in the 522 days of tragic, unjust imprisonment of a good, honorable and innocent man. ... We welcome this act of basic humanity, and we encourage his jailers in Iran to follow up by doing all the justice and decency require: Release Jason from prison and allow him a return to life as a free man who can spend time with his family where and whenever he pleases."
His brother, Ali, hand-delivered a petition containing more than 500,000 signatures to the Iranian mission in New York earlier this month marking the 500th day. The petition, which was coordinated by Change.org and signed by people from more than 150 countries, calls for Jason's immediate and unconditional release.
CNN's Tom Kludt contributed to this report.
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