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An article appeared in the LA Times today, by an Iranian blogger, writing under a pseudonym, and describing how she was arrested for the crime of criticizing the government in her weblog.
At first she was told she would be detained for only a few hours. But she was then thrown in a cell and ignored. Later she was told she might be imprisoned for years. As you might imagine, there was no trial of any kind.
Keep this in mind next time you hear liberals opposing our goal of bringing Democracy to the mid-east.
TEHRAN “Excuse me, Miss, but here in my hand I have a warrant for your arrest,” said a middle-aged man with a few days’ growth of beard. “Please do not make any noise as you walk calmly to the Mercedes parked at the corner.”
...When we arrived at our destination, I was left standing outside with the late December sun penetrating the blindfold they had insisted I wear. The cold and fresh air suggested northern Tehran, which meant Evin, the most notorious prison. I stood there for about half an hour, my calf muscles aching.
“Excuse me, how long do you think I will be kept here?” I asked the next person who spoke to me.
“It depends on you,” he replied. “If you cooperate, it will be brief.”
I was led down a spiral staircase. A woman with a velvet voice asked me to strip and handed me a prison uniform.
“But they told me it won’t be more than a few hours.”
...I was led to a cell, and a heavy, solid metal door was closed and locked. The cell was about 12 feet by 12 feet, with a small sink. The walls were blank, a recently painted cream color. Two gray blankets were folded on the floor. The ceiling was barred. Guards peeped in through a hole in the door every 20 minutes or so. I curled myself in a blanket. I had been expected home at noon. What do they want from me?
On my second day in confinement, I asked a guard, “Do you know why I am here?”
“I don’t know,” she replied. “Your interrogator will tell you.”
The next day, I was taken to a room down a long corridor and told to sit down. A fat hand with an agate stone ring set an interrogation form in front of me. Then he began asking about my Web log, which has hyperlinks on it to Western feminist groups.
“Do you accept the charges?” the interrogator asked.
“What charges?”
“That you have written things in your Web log that go against the Islamic system and that encourage people to topple the system,” he said. “You are inviting corrupt American liberalism to rule Iran.”
“I’ve tried to write my ideas and opinions in my Web log and to communicate with others in Farsi all over the world,” I said.
He was displeased.
“These answers will lead us nowhere, and you will stay here for years. Tell us the truth. How much have you received to write these offenses against the Islamic state? How are you and your fellow Web loggers organized?”
How should I respond? I knew my mother must be terribly worried about me. What could I say to make sure I got out?
The Islamo-fascists want all of us to live like that.
The Saudis are running mosques on U.S. soil teaching people to hate. That needs to stop. See this post for info on how you can help.
