Shiva Nazar Ahari's Account of Her Detention /An Interview With Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh
Watch video with English subtitles
Shiva Nazar Ahari - a journalist, blogger, and member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters (CHRR) and other human rights groups - was arrested at her workplace on 14 June 2009 in Tehran, after the post-election unrest in Iran. Security forces searched her house the previous night in her absence and confiscated some of her personal possessions. She was released on bail on 23 September 2009.
In an interview with the CHRR after her release, she said that when she was arrested,"The charges that I was informed of on June 15th were threatening national security by being affiliated with the PMOI [the People's Mojahedin of Iran, an armed group that opposes the Islamic Republic of Iran] and organizing mass protests - or as they called it - the unrest. Now, which one of these [charges] actually fit with my background and my work is a question [officials] have yet to answer. But apparently at the time, these charges were common and many people [who were arrested after the 2009 election] were charged similarly. That's when I found out that in their eyes, everyone is affiliated with the PMOI until proven otherwise. The fact that I am not affiliated with the PMOI is one that the officials cannot comprehend. But during the interrogations, more charges were brought. For example, working against national security by being a member of illegal groups, by giving interviews to foreign media, and creating chaos by organizing mass protests." (Source: CHRR)
Shiva was rearrested on 20 December 2009, while en route to the funeral of the late dissident Ayatollah Montazeri. On 11 February, Shiva called her family and told them that she had been transferred to a "cage-like" solitary confinement cell where she could not move her arms or legs. As of 1 September 2010, Shiva is awaiting her trial. She is charged with "war against God" and could face the death penalty.
This video interview was made by another women rights defender and journalist, Mahbubeh Abbasgholizadeh, in December 2009, a few days before Shiva was rearrested. The English subtitles were added by ABF.
(Sources : CHRR, Amnesty International, Wikipedia)