New York Times:

A Revolutionary Court judge in Iran with a reputation for imposing harsh sentences has been selected to preside in the trial of Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post’s Tehran correspondent, who has been incarcerated for more than six months on unspecified charges, a human rights advocacy group said Saturday.

The group, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, reported the selection of the judge, Abolghassem Salavati, in an updated posting on its website about the prosecution of Mr. Rezaian, who has not been granted access to legal counsel since he was arrested.

It quoted a prominent Iranian defense lawyer, Mohammed Saleh Nikbakht, who had wanted to represent Mr. Rezaian, as telling his family that Judge Salavati’s court would get the case. It also quoted Mr. Nikbakht as saying that “for certain reasons,” he could not be Mr. Rezaian’s lawyer.

There was no immediate comment from Mr. Rezaian’s family, and efforts to reach Mr. Nikbakht were not immediately successful...

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