Erstellt am: 8. 1. 2016 - 20:43 Uhr

Interrogated in Iran

What's it like to be held in solitary confinement by Iran's Revolutionary Guard? Maziar Bahari, journalist and subject of the film Rosewater, speaks to Alex Matthews about his experiences.

Can you ever imagine yourself breaking into dance after being called ‘Mrs Hillary Clinton?’ No, me neither. Like most people I’m perfectly happy to leave Bill with his moniker as husband of the soon-to-be Democratic nominee.

But in the film Rosewater, which recently had its Austrian premiere, this scene is like a light at the end of a long, dark, tunnel. After weeks spent in solitary confinement and being interrogated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Maziar Bahari, played by Gael Garcia Bernal, learns that the whole world knows about his unjust imprisonment when a guard insults him as ‘Mrs Hillary Clinton.’ It’s cause for celebration, and hence the dance.

Yet, Maziar Bahari is not a character invented for a dramatic on-screen drama. He is a charismatic, patient, kind, upbeat guy, and as real as his story. An Iranian by birth, both his father and sister were imprisoned as dissidents in his homeland. As a result, he moved abroad, studying and becoming a documentary film-maker in Canada, before moving to the UK.

Accusation of spying

In 2009, he returned to Iran to cover the Iranian elections for Newsweek Magazine. However, on 21st June, he was arrested at his mother’s house, accused of being a spy, and taken to Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, a sinister holding pen for political prisoners since the Iranian Revolution in 1979. There he was interrogated, tortured, and held in solitary confinement for 111 days, before he was released following an international campaign.

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Bahari had to make forced confessions in front of the Iranian media. CC BY 2.0 by flickr.com/photos/foreignoffice/.

His arrest came at a time of turmoil in Iran’s political system. On June 12th, as the election results were announced, protests erupted in several major cities at the news that incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won almost 60 per cent of the vote, despite widespread support for his opponent Mir-Hossein Mousavi and amid reports of large scale vote-rigging.

In an attempt to calm the protests, the government blamed foreign journalists such as Bahari for fanning the flames of resentment and attempting to start an anti-Iranian revolution. During his time in jail, Bahari was wheeled out in front of television cameras to give a forced confession that he knew foreign journalists were working as spies. His family, friends, and the international press refused to believe it, but the regime was only bothered about convincing people at home.

Crazy jumps

However, as a sign of the troubles in Iran’s regime, Bahari himself points to the crazy jumps the Revolutionary Guards had to make just to convince themselves. Scrambling to find evidence that Bahari was indeed a spy, they accused him of working for four separate intelligence agencies, one of which being Newsweek Magazine. After searching his Facebook account, they also accused him of being friends with the ‘Zionist’ Anton Chekhov, the Russian playwright who died in 1904.

Maziar Bahari puts this seemingly stunning ignorance down to the insular nature of the Revolutionary Guard. He points out that they have little connection to anyone outside their own sphere, and so no way to interpret information through another lens. It’s the reason why, says Bahari, they could not understand the nature of the American satirical programme The Daily Show.

Bahari was interviewed by The Daily Show’s Jason Jones shortly before his arrest, during which Jones made Bahari call himself a spy. Satire obviously was not part of the Revolutionary Guard’s world view, and so as far as Bahari’s interrogator was concerned, he had undeniable proof that Bahari was a spy. To us, that is downright crazy. To Bahari, under interrogation, it was another frustration.

Writing was cathartic

One of the most remarkable things about Maziar Bahari is just how down to earth he is. You might expect somebody who has been through torture and solitary confinement to be withdrawn or unhappy to talk about his experiences, since both punishments that cause severe psychological damage. Bahari is just the opposite. He puts part of his mind-set today down to writing a book about his experiences. He had already been planning the book in Evin Prison, and found to be a cathartic experience.

It was the legendary former host of The Daily Show Jon Stewart who turned the book, "Then They Came For Me", into the film "Rosewater". It is clear in many of his interviews about the film that Stewart feels somewhat guilty about Bahari’s imprisonment, so perhaps the film is his catharsis too. Whatever the intention behind the film, hidden or not, it is full of emotion, wonderfully brightened by bits of humour and fantastic comic timing that can only come from Stewart himself. It is well worth watching.

Alex Matthews

Alex Matthews speaks to Maziar Bahari (right) in FM4's Studios

Although he may have moved on from the experience himself, Bahari refuses to leave others behind. He now campaigns through his website for the release of journalists unjustly imprisoned in Iran and elsewhere, bringing their plights to the attention of the world. The crucial thing, he says, is to let them know that they are not alone. Just as the guard telling Bahari he was ‘Mrs Hillary Clinton’ let him know people on the outside cared, he now attempts to do the same.

It becomes the film’s most poignant moment; just before he leaves his solitary confinement cell, Bahari scrawls the words “You are not alone” in ball-point pen on the prison wall. It is a message that should be sent to the world’s imprisoned journalists, but could just as easily apply to anyone in need. We should join Maziar Bahari, stand with them, and let them know they are not alone.