Word: iran
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When Roxana Saberi packed her bags for Iran in 2003, she could not have anticipated that part of her six-year stay would include five months in the country's most notorious prison. When her press credentials were suddenly revoked in 2006 (after years of filing reports for foreign news organizations), she chose to stay in the country she had grown to love and work on a book instead. Then on Jan. 31, 2009, four men forced her from her home, accused her of being a spy and placed her in solitary confinement in Evin Prison. She was heavily interrogated...
...people of Iran - those who are not part of the regime - respond to your story? When I was released, the Iranian people, many of them, came up to me and apologized for the way I was treated. They said, "I'm so sorry you were our guest in this country and this is how you were treated." I said, "I know it's not your fault. You had nothing to do with those people who arrested me." There were very kind shopkeepers who didn't want to charge me. A taxi driver told me that a local bazaar was selling...
...have hope for the future of Iran? I do have hope for the country. Of course, right now, like many people, I am worried about the current state of affairs - the oppression and brutality and violence that has been used against people peacefully pursuing basic human rights. But I think the majority wants a more peaceful democratic government, a government that respects human rights...
Will these methods succeed in silencing those who want change in Iran? Using force and violence, imprisoning people, intimidating and harassing them - that will never eliminate these demands for change. It might scare them into silence, but it will only increase the gap between the regime and a large part of society. When you imprison one, you're breeding resentment among many other people - that prisoner's family members, friends and colleagues - so they are multiplying resentment by the measures they are using...
...didn't know for six years in Iran that they were following you as closely as they were. People have asked me, "If you knew you were being watched or you thought you might be monitored, why did you still interview people?" I tell them, "Because what I was doing wasn't illegal." I was doing my work openly. I had nothing to hide. It's like Gandhi says, "There won't be a need for the secret service if you think everything out loud." I always thought if they know what I am doing, they will see that...