Journalist’s Mother: “She Was Arrested in Her Car”

Journalist Mahsa Amrabadi’s mother, Maryam Amrabadi, spoke with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran after her daughter was arrested during protests on 1 March in Tehran. “She called us at three o’clock in the morning to tell us that she was in Evin Prison. She said ‘there is no need for you to come to Tehran, I am doing well and everything will be resolved [soon]. I will return home soon,'” Maryam Amrabadi told the Campaign.

“The last time we heard from her was at 8:00 in the evening when she told her father that she was going back home, but after that, whenever we called she did not answer. Then, for a while, her phone was turned off. It was at 3:00 o’clock in the morning when she called. I asked my daughter how they had arrested her. She said she was in her car with a friend, heading home when she was arrested by [security] forces. I asked her what had happened to her car. She said, ‘probably an agent must have taken the car to a parking lot.’ Other than this, I don’t know how and on what street and under what circumstances my daughter was arrested,” said Maryam Amrabadi.

Mahsa Amrabadi is the wife of journalist Massoud Bastani. The couple were arrested on 14 July 2009, a few days after the disputed 2009 presidential election. Amrabadi was released 72 days later. Bastani is serving a six year prison sentence at Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj and has not been allowed a single day of furlough since his arrest. Amrabadi was sentenced to one year in prison by a lower court, and is currently awaiting a decision by an appeals court.

“I thought she would be released the day after her arrest, but up until now there has been no news. Also, Massoud’s visitation is once every two weeks and his telephone calls have been totally cut off, so I don’t even know whether he knows about his wife’s arrest.” said Maryam Amrabadi about her daughter’s current situation.