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Authors: Struan Stevenson
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with the expulsion of foreign journalists, the suspension of mobile phone and Internet networks, dawn raids on homes and universities and mass arrests.
The protestors, like the vast majority of Iranians, were opposed to the clerical regime in its entirety and their courageous demonstrations showed the will of Iranian society to uproot the religious dictatorship and establish freedom and democracy. Their slogans denounced the Khamenei dictatorship and supported democracy and freedom. The chants in the street were: ‘Death to the dictator’ and ‘Iranians do not accept this disgrace’. The bulk of the protestors were young men and women, but they were not only students; they came from all walks of life.
The protests quickly grew, from objections to Ahmadinejad’s rigged re-election, to wider protests about the oppression and corruption of the clerical regime. But as always the protestors paid a heavy price for their courage. Dozens were killed by the regime’s storm-troopers, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and their handsomely rewarded Basij paramilitary thugs.
This was the moment the West could have intervened. The EU and US could have poured in support for the popular uprising, helping the ordinary citizens of Iran to overthrow their tyrannical rulers and restore democracy. Typically, the West did nothing. Iran rounded up thousands of suspected protestors in raids across the country and shipped them off to be tortured and executed, while the West watched in horror, like a rabbit caught in the headlights.
12
Interviews with Political Prisoners Tirana, Albania, May 2014
Abdal Nasser
‘My name is Abdal Nasser. I was also in this prison in the cell right next to Hossein (Ebrahimi) [See chapter 10 ], although I didn’t know it at the time. I hadn’t seen daylight for months. I didn’t see my mother and sister for three years. When I was teaching Hossein how to communicate through Morse I got angry and I would kick the wall. He was so difficult to teach. Once I was singing and asking what is your name? The guard came in and said, what are you doing, and I said, I am talking to God! And the prison guard told me he heard me say the name Hossein. I said that was Imam Hossein I was praying to! He said you have gone mad . . . and left me!
I was so alone and isolated that sometimes I preferred to be beaten up so I had some contact with another human being, even if it was only a sadistic guard. Finally one day Hossein managed to talk to me using Morse code and asked what is your name? I told him a nickname. We agreed to meet each other whenever it became possible. We fabricated a story in which I claimed I had stomach ache and he said he had a toothache, which got us out of our cells. We were forbidden from talking or making any physical contact with each other, of course, because they even thought we could communicate using Morse by tapping on each other’s bodies.
One day it was very cold and I was hungry. I slept and dreamt that I had gone home and that my Mum was making my favourite kebabs. She shed tears of joy and I was eating all these kebabs and I was so happy that I had eaten my first full meal after three years. I woke up realising it was just a dream, so I tried to go back to sleep and continue with this sweet dream.
Soon I was separated from Hossein and we said goodbye to each other through Morse code. I was released from prison and escaped toIraq where I joined the resistance. Many years later, by sheer accident we came across each other again. I was not sure if it was really him, but then we used Morse to say hello and we found each other again!
I was in prison for a total of six years despite being sentenced to only 20 months initially. I was kept there for five extra years because they wanted to break me down.’
13
Amman
Following my election to the European Parliament in June 2009, I had been appointed as President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq.
The protestors, like the vast majority of Iranians, were opposed to the clerical regime in its entirety and their courageous demonstrations showed the will of Iranian society to uproot the religious dictatorship and establish freedom and democracy. Their slogans denounced the Khamenei dictatorship and supported democracy and freedom. The chants in the street were: ‘Death to the dictator’ and ‘Iranians do not accept this disgrace’. The bulk of the protestors were young men and women, but they were not only students; they came from all walks of life.
The protests quickly grew, from objections to Ahmadinejad’s rigged re-election, to wider protests about the oppression and corruption of the clerical regime. But as always the protestors paid a heavy price for their courage. Dozens were killed by the regime’s storm-troopers, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and their handsomely rewarded Basij paramilitary thugs.
This was the moment the West could have intervened. The EU and US could have poured in support for the popular uprising, helping the ordinary citizens of Iran to overthrow their tyrannical rulers and restore democracy. Typically, the West did nothing. Iran rounded up thousands of suspected protestors in raids across the country and shipped them off to be tortured and executed, while the West watched in horror, like a rabbit caught in the headlights.
12
Interviews with Political Prisoners Tirana, Albania, May 2014
Abdal Nasser
‘My name is Abdal Nasser. I was also in this prison in the cell right next to Hossein (Ebrahimi) [See chapter 10 ], although I didn’t know it at the time. I hadn’t seen daylight for months. I didn’t see my mother and sister for three years. When I was teaching Hossein how to communicate through Morse I got angry and I would kick the wall. He was so difficult to teach. Once I was singing and asking what is your name? The guard came in and said, what are you doing, and I said, I am talking to God! And the prison guard told me he heard me say the name Hossein. I said that was Imam Hossein I was praying to! He said you have gone mad . . . and left me!
I was so alone and isolated that sometimes I preferred to be beaten up so I had some contact with another human being, even if it was only a sadistic guard. Finally one day Hossein managed to talk to me using Morse code and asked what is your name? I told him a nickname. We agreed to meet each other whenever it became possible. We fabricated a story in which I claimed I had stomach ache and he said he had a toothache, which got us out of our cells. We were forbidden from talking or making any physical contact with each other, of course, because they even thought we could communicate using Morse by tapping on each other’s bodies.
One day it was very cold and I was hungry. I slept and dreamt that I had gone home and that my Mum was making my favourite kebabs. She shed tears of joy and I was eating all these kebabs and I was so happy that I had eaten my first full meal after three years. I woke up realising it was just a dream, so I tried to go back to sleep and continue with this sweet dream.
Soon I was separated from Hossein and we said goodbye to each other through Morse code. I was released from prison and escaped toIraq where I joined the resistance. Many years later, by sheer accident we came across each other again. I was not sure if it was really him, but then we used Morse to say hello and we found each other again!
I was in prison for a total of six years despite being sentenced to only 20 months initially. I was kept there for five extra years because they wanted to break me down.’
13
Amman
Following my election to the European Parliament in June 2009, I had been appointed as President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq.
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