Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, flew to Germany this week to escort Post correspondent Jason Rezaian back to the United States following Rezaian’s release from an Iranian prison. News of Bezos’ involvement was reported by CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter on Friday.
https://twitter.com/brianstelter/status/690599279254224896/photo/1
Rezaian was arrested in July 2014 and jailed in Iran’s Evin prison, according to the Post. He was released on Saturday as part of a prisoner swap after 18 months and had been at the US military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, since then.
CNN reports that, according to a Post source, Rezaian and his family members were traveling on a private jet with Bezos on Friday. A Post spokeswoman did confirm to Stelter and CNN that “Jeff had dinner with the Rezaians Thursday evening at the Army base in Germany and then flew them back home. … Like all of us, he is incredibly happy they are safe and sound.”
Bezos, who acquired the Post in 2013, was tweeting on Sunday about the newspaper’s efforts to free Rezaian.
Wheels up and out of Iranian airspace! Jason, Yegi, and Mary aboard. Doug Jehl and Ali Rezaian worked tirelessly on this. #JasonIsFree
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) January 17, 2016
“Today my family and I left Landstuhl to return home to the United States,” Rezaian said in a statement released on Friday. “I appreciate the exceptional care I received from the doctors and medical staff, as well as the hospitality we were shown during our stay on the base.”
