And Then They Came For Me

“And Then They Came For Me”

The terrifying story of hope and resilience in a place where there is none

HartPisani, Staff Writer

When Maziar Bahari was six years old he would journey with his aunts to a shrine in the Iranian city of Qom. Upon entering, the owners of the shrine would sprinkle rosewater over them to cover up the smell of their sweat. The smell of rosewater was a memory from his youth that Bahari once deeply cherished. The memory of that smell was replaced by different and much more frightening memory one morning in 2009; the morning “they” came for him.

On the morning of June 21st, 2009 the Iranian born Bahari was arrested at his mother’s home in Tehran, Iran. He was not initially told what he was being arrested for and he even believed that the officers arresting him were making a mistake. He was eventually accused of being an agent for the CIA, MI6, Mossad and Newsweek (which his interrogators named as an American spy agency). Throughout the course of his imprisonment, Bahari was physically and mentally tortured, primarily by a man he dubbed“Rosewater” for his distinct smell. Originally believing that he would be released relatively quickly, Bahari’s unjust and practically unexplained captivity lasted 118 days before he was released and allowed to leave Iran, his home that has a long history of such incidents.

Maziar Bahari, who was held imprisoned for 118 days

Bahari, a freelance documentary filmmaker and occasional writer for Newsweek, grew up in Tehran with his father, mother, older brother and older sister. His family has a history of heavy involvement in dissident politics. In their youth, both of Bahari’s parents were members of the Tudeh Party, the communist party of Iran. The party had been outlawed since the early 1950’s after one of their members made an assassination attempt on Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the shah of Iran and a pro-Western autocrat. In December of 1954,“they” came for Bahari’s father. His father was charged with belonging to a treasonous organization and sentenced to fifteen years in prison where he endured solitary confinement and torture. After his mother fought tirelessly to have him released, Bahari’s father’s sentence was shortened from fifteen years to two. This would not be the last time that a member of Bahari’s family would suffer unjust imprisonment, however.

Fed up with the shah’s pro-Western dictatorship and his rush to modernization (which received the backing of the United States of America), an anti-Western, fundamentalist movement was triggered, led by high-ranking Shia cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. After a year of violent protests, the shah was overthrown and on February 11th, 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran was established. Khomeini was named the supreme leader, making him, “the spiritual leader of the country and the man with the final say in all affairs of the state,” as Bahari wrote in his book Rosewater. Though he promised to establish a democratic government and to allow freedom of expression, Khomeini went on to establish a fundamentalist government even more repressive than the shah’s. Despite supporting the revolution, Bahari’s sister Maryam came to learn this fact the hard way.

Following in her father’s footsteps, Maryam and her husband Mohammad also joined the Tudeh Party in 1979. Despite Khomeini’s promise of more tolerance, the Tudeh Party was still outlawed. In April of 1983, “they” came for Maryam.

“She was sentenced to fifteen years in prison (which was eventually reduced to six),in a sham trial before a judge and no journey,” Bahari wrote. “She wasn’t allowed a lawyer, and when she tried to object to the charges against her, the judge refused to let her speak.”

Though believing six years was a ridiculous injustice, the Bahari family were relieved that she was allowed to live, as the Islamic regime had been executing many political prisoners. While imprisoned, Maryam suffered the same beatings and torture that her father endured during his time in captivity.

After everything that had happened to his family, Bahari left Iran to study journalism at the University of Montreal in Canada once he turned eighteen. He began reporting in Iran in 1997, staying with his mother,Moloojoon as he refers to her in his book, when he would return. For more than a decade he had taken every measure to avoid the fates of his father and sister. Even when reporting on sensitive topics including separatist movements and ethnic and religious minorities, he censored his reporting in order to keep himself “under the radar.” He believed that he had done everything he could to keep himself out of trouble. And then “they” came for him.

Bahari left his flat in London and returned to Iran in 2009 to cover the Iranian presidential election for Newsweek. He left behind his wife Paola, who was five months pregnant with their first child at the time.

“As much as I wanted to be with Paola in London, reading the pregnancy books piled near our bed, I knew that I had to get back to Iran to report on the historic elections just days away.”

Bahari with his wife Paola

Though there were four candidates to choose from the main battle in the election was between then-incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his primary opponent Mir Hossein Mousavi. There had been heavy opposition for sometime against President Ahmadinejad. Iran had been in economic ruin and his rhetoric had alienated many other countries around the world, creating several potential enemies.

Ahmadinejad (left) and Mousavi

Iran is a very curious country in that according to their constitution, the supreme leader has the final say about all affairs of the state. The president is the head of the executive branch and is in charge of the day-to-day running of the country. This system of government puzzles many outsiders and Iranians alike.

“Islamic Republic itself is a contradiction in terms. On the one hand, the government follows democratic procedures…through which people choose their president…On the other hand…the supreme leader has the final say in all affairs of state, affording him absolute power.”

Bahari explains that there are cracks in the system that allow for a strong president to challenge the supreme leader. Ahmadinejad was a devout supporter of Ayatollah Khamenei, who replaced Khomeini as supreme leader following his 1989 death, and was as equally oppressive as him. Thusly most Iranians had come to support Mousavi, who offered a chance to reform Iran’s broken economy and negative worldwide image.

Bahari spent the coming days covering the election,particularly those in support of Mousavi. During this time he was interviewed by Jason Jones, a correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, a satirical American news program on Comedy Central. In the segment, Jones referred to himself as “an American spy,” in jest for the comedy program.

Jason Jones (left) interviewed Bahari, which would ultimately come back to haunt him

Leading up to the election, it appeared that Mousavi had the leg up on Ahmadinejad.However, Ahmadinejad was reelected in a landslide victory. Many took to the streets in protest, believing that Khamenei and Ahmadinejad had the election rigged. These peaceful protest were met with brutal response by the Iranian military and police, with protesters and occasionally innocent bystanders being beaten, arrested and fired upon with automatic weapons.

2009 Iran protests

Though his wife begged him to come home, Bahari felt little concern for himself as a journalist, thinking he had all the necessary accreditations and had taken all the recommended precautions to avoid trouble. And then “they” came for him.

Four men from the Tehran prosecutor’s office, including Rosewater, appeared at the home of Bahari’s mother and began rummaging through his belongings and eventually taking him to the notorious Elvin Prison where he was placed in a small cell and given occasional brief exercise periods followed by much longer interrogation periods. Rosewater would regularly burst into rage and begin beating and slapping Bahari without provocation, demanding that he give him the names of the people he was working for. Bahari believed the entire ordeal to bea terrible mistake, as Rosewater seemed to believe that Newsweek was actually an American spy organization and even accused Bahari of working for the CIA and MI6. It was not the most bizarre accusation that Rosewater would make, however.

Elvin Prison, where Bahari was held

Rosewater eventually showed Bahari the episode of The Daily Show featuring Jones’interview with Bahari. Following this Rosewater asked him, “What were you doing, talking to an American spy?” Perplexed, Bahari asked, “Why would an American spy be on a TV show?” Responses such as this only earned Bahari further beatings from Rosewater, who, according to Bahari, “hit the hardest when he felt stupid.”

Rosewater would go on to threaten Bahari with “every tactic necessary” including interrogation up to fifteen hours a day for four to six years. The interrogators told Bahari that he would stay in prison until the jail operators “put your bones in a bag and throw it at your mother's doorstep!” On another occasion Rosewater told Bahari, “I will make sure you die before Ramadan, Mazi, ... but I will also make sure that I smash your handsome face first.”

Early on, Bahari remained hopeful that in time he would be released; that his mother,wife, Newsweek and the American government would come through for him to ensure his release. He stayed strong and refused to have his spirit broken. When Rosewater came to realize this hope was the only thing Bahari had left, he attempted to take that from him.

Rosewater would tell Bahari that he had been “forgotten” and that, “There are campaigns for everyone in this prison – even the most unknown of the prisoners – but nothing for you.” On another occasion, Rosewater allowed Bahari to contact his wife through the phone only to hang up the call and mock Bahari’s declarations of love for her.

This abuse, which was sometimes mixed in with blandishments such as offers of coffee and promises of friendship, led Bahari to feel immense fear and pressure.Adding on to his suffering was the guilt he felt for leaving his wife alone in London as well as his mother’s suffering, having lost Maryam to Leukemia just five months earlier. “They” made sure to remind him of this.

“We do not want to harm you,” they told him. “We do not want your wife to raise the child alone. I do not want your child to grow up an orphan. Is it a boy or agirl? ... And you have a mother who has lost two children and her husband inthe past four years.” (Bahari’s older brother and father had died prior to his arrest.)

When Bahari was not being tortured with beatings, he was being tortured psychologically with long stretches in solitary confinement in a windowless room where he began to fear he was going crazy.

"I couldn't escape from the loneliness of solitary confinement, not even in sleep.” Bahari writes. “I would dream about sitting in my cell alone for days,forgotten and abandoned. I would cry for help and try to open the door, but no one could hear me. My cries often woke me up, and seeing the locked metal door,I didn't know if I was awake or still trapped in the dream. This went on for days, and I prayed for Rosewater to call me, even to beat me. At least it was human contact.”

During these stays in solitary confinement, Bahari began to carry on imaginary conversations with the memories of his deceased father and sister. The memory of his father would encouraged him to be courageous and to not break, a request that Bahari could not fully honor, much to his shame.

Desperate to escape, Bahari agreed to record a video confession condemning the “wickedness”of Western media. However, he refused to reveal any individual names, not wishing to harm any of his contacts or people close to him. As a result of refusing to give up these names, “they” refused to honor their agreement to release him and he was kept in prison.

Hillary Clinton mentioned Bahari in an interview, increasing the pressure on Iran to release him

Ultimately,the further interrogations lead nowhere, and the pressure was beginning to mount on Iran. Bahari’s wife had been mounting a serious campaign for his release, appearing on multiple news broadcasts. Newsweek had also been spreading the word of his arrest in order to get attention for it. Even then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mentioned him by name during an interview,spreading the word of his ordeal even further.

Due to the mounting pressure, “they” came to the decision to release Bahari. His release was contingent upon the promises that he will help spy for the Revolutionary Guard (who arrested and interrogated him) after his release. He was also given a list of journalists and opposition activists inside and outside Iran that “they”required him to monitor. His bail was set at the U.S. equivalent of $300,000and he was force to sign a promise that he would report to the Guard every week about any “anti-revolutionary activities” he observed. They also gave him repeated warnings that “they” would bring him back to Iran "in a bag" if he did not comply with these requirements. With all of these requirements in place, Maziar Bahari was finally released on October 17, 2009 after 118 days,just in time to witness the birth of his daughter.

Following his release from prison and failure to follow up with his “requirements” Bahari was tried in absentia and sentenced to thirteen and a half years' imprisonment plus 74 lashes. Bahari has continued making documentary films and writing for Newsweek, in addition to writing the book Rosewater,which was recently adapted into a film of the same name directed by Jon Stewart,who did not respond to iPulse’s request for an interview. Bahari has gone on to discuss many important topics involving Iran, journalism and others.

Jon Stewart (left), who directed Rosewater, with Bahari (middle) and Gael Garcia Bernal, who portrayed Bahari in the film

In the epilogue for Rosewater, Bahari explains what he came to learn about his arrest from, “friends and more than a few strangers with connections inside the government" that contacted him.These people told him that his arrest was part of a plan concocted by the Revolutionary Guards a year before the election. The Guard’s plan was to eliminate reformists by connecting the reformists with Western powers – Bahari being an agent connecting "the evil Western media and the reformists,"according to this plan.

In concluding his book, Bahari makes clear that he is not interested in revenge for what was done to him, rather that there is something very important for each and every person who hears his story to remember.

“Hundreds of innocent prisoners remain inside Iranian jails, enduring the same brutal ordeal I had."