Exclusive Interview: Roxana Saberi

By Kristine Kostuck
Contributing Writer

“Znernagyrhgbfg Evin Prison ewatngnmdfv.” As Roxana Saberi ran her eyes over the last line of a note handed to her by a disguised mailman, her heart pounded.

“Excuse me, I don’t read Farsi well. Could you give me a moment to look at this more carefully,” she said to the man at her door. As she tried to shut her front door she was stopped by a foot propping it open.

She was taken from her apartment, down the stairs and into her captor’s car. She didn’t scream. She “resigned herself to the unknown,” was taken to the notorious prison that held human rights activists, Iranian Christians and journalists. Torture was common; Evin Prison is known for its hangings and mass executions. She spent the next hundred days there, but with the support of people from around the world, she was released. This left Saberi with a new perspective on humanity and gratitude for America’s constitutional rights.

She’d been sent to Iran on a journalistic assignment, fell in love with the beautiful countryside and its people. Intrigued by their culture, she began studying it to learn more about her own heritage. Being half Iranian, she was treated like a resident, and even after her press pass was taken away she was able to travel freely throughout Iran. Soon it became her new home, and she continued to freelance her work to the U.S. She reported for the BBC, NPR and Fox News.

It was not her international reports that led Iran’s regime to her doorstep, but the compiled research she was in the process of using for her book. She’d been investigating for years, had completed over a hundred interviews with people of all classes and varying occupations. The book was intended to broaden people’s knowledge of the country.

“Iran is not only about the nuclear issue. It is filled with a diverse society. Many young people hope for the same things we all want, and for good relations with the rest of the world. They want to feel like they have a role in their country’s future,” she said. “I felt limited by my news reports—you can only say so much. I wanted people to see how they live day to day.”

The interrogation began in the car. She was asked general questions: Who was she, why was she in Iran, what was she reporting on and who was she reporting for. This continued for hours and then for days, weeks and months inside the prison. She was blindfolded, put into a room where she faced a wall. Eventually, she made a false confession of international spying, after they told her she would be released and would be able to return home to her family. She was tricked by her interrogators.

The government’s fear of international reporting became apparent in 2005, when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad entered office. He replaced Mohammad Khatami, a more open and accepting leader who did not regulate or fear reports. Saberi remembers that when Ahmadinejad’s took office, she saw female journalists weeping because they knew their work would be under close surveillance.

In Iran, freedom of the press is not a constitutional right. The government has the power to change any reports, adding propaganda or eliminating the story before it reaches the public. As Ahmadinejad’s policies continued, the government became more aware of foreign journalists’ work.

It was five weeks before she was able to see an attorney; a short time after that, her court date was set. Saberi’s father argued that her confession was false because forced. “I remember in court they said that, ‘Unlike America we do not water board here, she was treated fairly and she was not under any sort of pressure,’” she said.

The court sentenced her to eight years in prison, which her lawyer promised to appeal.

Most days Saberi sat in her cell playing the piano on the wall, singing Christmas carols and exercising in place. She tried her best to keep busy, so she would not lose her sanity. Her cellmates turned out to be her main support. She met other journalists and activists. Many had been asked to make false convictions, just like Saberi. Most did not plead guilty, and that inspired her.

She began a hunger strike. It lasted about two weeks. To support her, many started fasting, inside and outside of prison, all over the world. “I kept telling my dad to go home and tell those people that I am lying in a cell all day, they are working and need to eat,” she said.

Back home her family was also receiving support. Their house was covered in ribbons and flowers. Everywhere you looked, Saberi seemed to be on the news and the State Department was speaking out for her.

“I was almost embarrassed because I was creating so much trouble,” she said. “I have no idea why it was like this. Maybe the media just liked the headline ‘Beauty Pageant Candidate Imprisoned in Iran,’” she said.

Soon after, the court dismissed the charges against her on the grounds that the U.S. was not a hostile country because it was not at war with Iran, and that therefore her reports and interviews were not espionage.

Even if it was her youth and beauty that attracted the media’s attention, Saberi has expressed gratitude and thinks that without this kind of recognition she would not have been released so quickly. She emphasizes that there are many forgotten journalists imprisoned around the world. In recent news, three Canadian journalists were being held captive in Evin Prison. Saberi and her father talked with the victims’ families, assuring them that they would not be harmed.

Saberi began speaking out for Iran’s prisoners of conscience and supported other international journalists through the Reporters Without Borders foundation. Reporters can be imprisoned for words, photos or even research; it can be for 100 interviews like Saberi’s, or a single sentence.

Saberi met many journalists during her months of imprisonment. Her own story, combined with theirs, inclined her to write a memoir of her captivity, “Between Two Worlds.” In it she takes inspiration from their example, expresses her appreciation for their kindness and her gratitude for life and freedom.

She thought about America’s human rights in her cell for countless hours: how fortunate she’d been to grow up here. “If I were not an American I do not know what would have happened to me,” she said. Although she was not tortured, she was held in solitary confinement, and was not allowed to inform anyone of her whereabouts. This would have never happened in an American prison. She would not have been forced to make a false confession either.

She is not sure if she will return to Iran. “It probably is not a good idea at this point,” Saberi said, “But I would like to finish that book.”
She sees international journalism as a vital service. Unlike Iranians, who often turn to satellite television and radio to get their news, we can trust our media, even if it can be biased and is far from perfect. The public has the ability to learn about almost anything desired.

This can only continue if readers support international journalists. When reporters are removed from assignments or are forced to change their stories’ content, readers and listeners are missing out on information that could change or save lives.

“Wherever there are injustices, they need to be addressed. Others do not have the same rights we do. I hope America can lead by example,” she said.

Saberi’s book is available now. She will be coming back to Fargo from her book tour to give a reading, sign books and take questions at Zandbroz Downtown in May. To support international reporting, go to Reporters Without Borders’ website, http://www.rsf.org/.

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If You Go

What: Roxana Saberi

Where: Zandbroz Variety

When: Wed, May 12, 6:30pm

Info: 701.239.4729