After being arrested twice, charged with “propaganda against the regime” and long stints in solitary confinement at Evin Prison, Milad Fadai Asl, former employee of reformist Iranian Labor News Agency, felt he was given no choice but to give up journalism.
Name: Milad Fadai Asl
Career: Reporter for Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA)
Charges: Propaganda against the regime.
Milad Fadai Asl was first arrested in 2010 on charges of propaganda against the regime. He spent six months in cellblocks 209 and 350 of Evin Prison before being released in June 2010.
Before going to jail, he worked at the municipality of Tehran but was subsequently fired. Upon his release in 2011 he joined the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA), an agency close to the Iranian reformist movement.
In January 2012, the Intelligence Ministry arrested him for the second time on the same charges. For this, he spent 32 days at Evin prison, which included 26 days in solitary confinement, before he was released on bail on 28 February.
Describing his experience in prison, Milad said:
“Solitary confinement is the embodiment of torment and suffering. In the isolation of solitary confinement the whole world is reduced to tiny walls and the shadows of guards who are passing by. A prisoner’s dreams and desires are reduced to seeing their family and hearing their voices.
I had experienced solitary confinement before but this time it was different. The biggest difference was the condition of my wife Saba, who was also my colleague at ILNA. I was worried that she too had been arrested. During the first interrogation—which thankfully, unlike the one in 2009, was conducted with respect—I was informed that my wife had not been arrested, meaning I could breathe again.
My next question was: Why? Why had they arrested an accredited reporter? Throughout my 32 days in detention, and especially when I was in solitary, this question was permanently on my mind but I was unable to find a satisfactory answer, putting my mind under even more pressure.
Most of the interrogations consisted of questions about the news agency and my relationships with friends and colleagues. I can say with certainty that the interrogator was not investigating anything to do with my charges or misdeeds. He just wanted to size me up. This was both good and worrying, as it meant there wasn’t an end in sight to my detention.
After I was released, and given the cost of the experience and its many accompanying worries, I kissed journalism goodbye and began working at my father’s workshop.”
This is part of IranWire’s series Crime: Journalism, a portfolio on the legal and political persecution of Iranian journalists and bloggers, published in both Persian and English.
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