Former Time correspondent Reza Fafiei Foroushani spent two years in prison, where he was beaten and interrogated and forced to confess on television.
Name: Reza Rafiei Foroushani
Career: Journalist and former Time magazine correspondent in Iran.
Charges: Activities against national security by spying for foreign countries; attempting to create a private satellite network for the reformist National Trust Party; and connections with US and United Arab Emirates intelligence services.
Reza Rafiei Foroushani was arrested on June 27,2009 at his mother’s home. Foroushani, a supporter of the reformist candidate Mehdi Karroubi in the disputed 2009 presidential election, had planned to launch a private satellite network for Karroubi’s National Trust Party and invested about $400,000 in the project. Authorities refused to grant a permit for the station.
Immediately after his arrest, Foroushani was taken to Cell Block 209 at Evin Prison and for 49 days he was subjected to harsh interrogations and beatings. He was then transferred to Cell Block 350, known for housing political prisoners, sharing a cell with three to four other prisoners for the next seven months. He was then sent to Rajaie Shahr prison near Tehran, but was returned to Evin and remained there until he was released. In all, he was detained for two years.
It is reported that Foroushani was beaten and tortured because he is close to Karroubi’s family; it was widely believed that authorities wanted Foroushani to testify that Karroubi’s son had engaged in an adulterous affair with an MP’s wife.
During his indictment, he was accused of spying for the CIA because of his work with Time magazine. As the president of the Iran-Switzerland Friendship society, he was also accused of spying for Switzerland. In a letter to the head of the Iranian judiciary, Foroushani wrote that his only goals in presiding over the non-profit society was to secure Swiss scholarships for Iranian students and organize scientific and cultural seminars and exhibitions. He attested that the charges were extremely unjust.
Foroushani was forced to confess on television, and in a letter to the chief justice he said he had been subjected to a “long and illegal detention in a cage—which they refer to as solitary confinement”. During his incarceration, he said, the guards commanded full control over all situations. “The most basic human needs, like going to the toilet, depended on kindness from the guards.” He said that they often stood by while inmates suffered from severe stomach and bladder conditions. “Out of pure spite,” he said, “they would let an inmate wallow in his own excrement and urine.”
“Interrogation sessions turned into rehearsals for fake confessions,” he added. “In less than a week, I stood in front of a camera three times and rehearsed the prepared text.” In August 2009, he and another detainee entered a studio, “accompanied by a large number of Intelligence Ministry agents.” He said they “performed” their “rehearsed parts in front of the cameras.”
Foroushani was sentenced to seven years in prison by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court presided over by Judge Salavati. The sentence was later reduced to three years by the appeals court. No bail was set. After two years, on 13 June, 2011, he was released.
After a number of TV confessions were broadcast during the aftermath of the 2009 election, Foroushani was one of the first to speak out about them and to highlight the impartiality of the court. Other prisoners followed his example and, in a series of open letters, protested against their imprisonment and forced confessions.
Foroushani now lives on Kish Island, removed from the political life of Tehran.
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Saba Azarpeik
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