Watchdog

Iranian state media said the trial of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian resumed behind closed doors in Tehran on July 13.

Rezaian, a dual American-Iranian citizen, is accused of spying for the United States and distributing propaganda against the Islamic republic.

Rezaian, who has been in custody for almost a year, denies the charges.

Iran held two sessions for Rezaian in May and June in a Revolutionary Court.

Iran does not recognize dual citizenship.

Rezaian reportedly faces jail sentences of 10-20 years over the charges, which have been dismissed as groundless by the United States, The Washington Post, and rights groups.

Details of the case have been hard to establish due to the closed-door nature of proceedings before the Revolutionary Court that hears security-related cases in Iran.

Rezaian, his wife, and two photojournalists were detained in July 2014 in Tehran. All were later released except Rezaian.

Based on reporting by irna.ir, AFP, and AP

The Council of Europe's human rights commissioner, Nils Muiznieks, has criticized Russian authorities' move to ban 12 foreign organizations under a new law Russian lawmakers say is needed to rid the country of "undesirable" groups deemed a threat to its security.

Muiznieks told RFE/RL on July 9 that Russia's "new bad law" is "vague and allows Russian authorities to shut down any nongovernmental organization."

The Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament, on July 8 formally asked the Prosecutor-General's Office, the Foreign Ministry, and the Justice Ministry to scrutinize the operations of the organizations with a view to possibly declaring them "undesirable" and shutting them down.

The 12 groups on the so-called "patriotic stop-list" include Freedom House, billionaire U.S. philanthropist George Soros's Open Society Foundations, the National Endowment for Democracy, the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the MacArthur Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Education for Democracy Foundation, and several groups focusing on Ukrainian issues.