http://www.payvand.com/news/07/jun/1059.html
June 6, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Radio Farda broadcaster Parnaz Azima has
been prevented from leaving Iran for the past five months. Azima -- an
Iranian-American -- had traveled to Tehran in January to visit her sick
mother when authorities confiscated her Iranian passport and charged
her with working for Radio Farda and spreading propaganda against
the state. Since then Azima has been unable to leave Iran and return to
her work in Prague. Azima talks about her situation in a phone interview
with RFE/RL correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari.
Parnaz Azima working in Prague
(file photo - RFE/RL)
RFE/RL: You have been trapped in Iran for the past five months,
authorities have confiscated your passport, and you cannot return to
your work and life here. How do you feel about this?
Parnaz Azima: On the surface it seems that everything is well, I'm in my
mother's house and I can go anywhere I want and no one stops me.
That is on the surface; but the truth is that I am facing a state of
uncertainty and waiting. I can describe it as a prisoner who is in a larger
prison and the length of the prison term has not been determined. [The
prisoner] is expecting an answer any minute that he will remain in jail or
be released. But I have to say that I'm grateful when I compare my
[situation] with that of Haleh Esfandiari, Kian Tajbakhsh, Ali Shakeri
[Esfandiari and Tajbakhsh are Iranian-American scholars recently jailed
in Iran; Shakeri is an Iranian-American peace activist who has also
been detained], and many other prisoners who do not enjoy the relative
freedom that I have. I do my best to use this opportunity -- when I left
Iran some 25 years ago I left some unfinished work -- I have found
some of my manuscripts but many have been lost and I am working on
them.
RFE/RL: There's been lots of support for you in the United States and
internationally and several human rights groups have called on Iran to
let you go and also release Esfandiari, Tajbakhsh, and Shakeri, the
Iranian-Americans who have been jailed in Iran. Have you received
support also from inside Iran?
Azima: There has not been such organized support [inside Iran], though
I have received emotional support from my family, my friends, and it's
very positive. There are people that I didn't even know and they just had
heard my name and seen my work; they came to my house with
flowers. Such gestures lift up my morale but I also have to say that the
extent of such support is very limited because everybody knows that it
is very likely that my phone is being tapped, my calls are being
monitored and people are to a large extent worried about their everyday
lives. They are common people with no support and protection
therefore I have many close friends who have not contacted me and I
understand them and I know that they have the right to think about their
own [situations].
RFE/RL: You have been charged with spreading propaganda against
the state by working for Radio Farda. What is your reaction to these
charges?
Azima: I gave an example to [the authorities] who interrogated me:
news organizations such as the BBC, CNN, and others that are based
in foreign countries, the governments of [these countries] can also
accuse them of propaganda against them because they bring the voice
of opposition forces to their [audience] -- and even the voice of those
who are against the policies of the U.S. government -- they cover their
views. In my eyes this is what journalism is all about: informing freely.
Unfortunately in [Iran] journalism is such that journalists should always
praise officials or they face censorship and pressure. But if we increase
our awareness about journalism and the principle of the free flow of
information then we will realize that [such practice] is not propaganda
against the state, in my view it's to the benefit of a state. Of course
democratic states, because dictatorships or totalitarian regimes are
afraid of people, they're afraid of telling the truth, they're concerned
about informing people. But officials from Iran's Islamic republic, who
always say that [Iran] is one of the best democracies in the world,
should not have any fear for [those] telling the truth. If they really care
about people's thoughts and opinions, they should consider people's
ideas and value them in order to improve the Islamic republic. The
other issue is that journalism is a profession that doesn't take sides and
is impartial; a journalist should say everything objectively therefore I
think -- as Mohammad Hossein Aghasi [Azima's lawyer] has said --
these charges are baseless.
RFE/RL: Do we know how authorities will proceed regarding your case?
Have they set a date for another court hearing?
Azima: The judge in charge of my case decided that I will not be
detained but I was allowed to remain free on a very heavy and
unprecedented bail of about 500 million tooman [approximately
$550,000]. They will now do their investigation -- the Intelligence
Ministry is doing the investigation. It will give the results to the judge in
charge of the case and the judiciary, then they will decide about having
a court session. My case is waiting now for the response from the
Intelligence Ministry so I will have to see what their decision will be
regarding my case. It is possible that they will decide to return my
passport and since I'm an optimistic person I think it is very likely, but it
could be quite the opposite -- so I'm waiting and I've been in this state
for five months now.
(See also "Iran: Simin Behbehani, A Poet For The Ages, Captures
Nation's Suffering And Joys," by Parnaz Azima.)
(Source: Ziacharias Liangas, Greece/HCDX)