Iran, Political Prisoners, & New Media: Discovering The Case of Zahra Bahrami

This is a story of an Iranian-Dutch woman who may be facing death in Tehran. It is not a nice story. It is not a story with a happy ending (thank goodness that it has no "ending", given the possibilities, so far).

But at least it is now a public story.

Last year Zahra Bahrami travelled from the Netherlands to visit one of her children in Iran. On 27 December, the day of the Ashura demonstrations, she was accused of taking part in the protests and arrested.

Then Zahra Bahrami effectively disappeared amongst the thousands who have gone through the Iranian prisons since last June's election. She had changed her name slightly to Sahra Baahrami on her Netherlands passport, so no one --- if they knew of her plight --- apparently made the connection between the woman was now in prison and the Dutch citizen.

In April, Reporters and Human Rights Activists in Iran (RAHANA) wrote:

45-year old Zahra Bahrami was brutally arrested and taken to Ward 209 of Evin on December 27, 2009 during the Ashura protests. She has been held in solitary confinement in Ward 209 since her arrest more than 3 months ago. Bahrami has been interrogated numerous times during her detention. The sessions last several hours and are comprised of physical and psychological torture, as well as incessant vulgar insults.

And there was more: some Iran-watchers spoke of the charge of "mohareb" (war against God). If true, that meant Bahrami faced the death penalty if she was convicted.

There was no indication of Bahrami's dual citizenship --- RAHANA said, "Due to her unknown status, Bahrami has been subjected to the harshest physical and mental torture techniques" --- however, when we noted, "Activists are playing close attention to her case," we had learned from EA readers that Bahrami was an Iranian-Dutch national. One of them pointed us to a website which provided further information and urged people to write letters to the Dutch Foreign Minister, Maxine Verhagen, to highlight Bahrami's plight.

This past week, those campaigns culminated in a joint expression of concern by Amnesty International and the Dutch Government. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs at The Hague said, amidst the growing chatter on the Internet, that it had "attempted to obtain an explanation from Iranian authorities, but none [had] been provided". However, with the family confirming to the Ministry on 23 June that Bahrami had been detained and with clarification a month later over the change of name on her passport, Dutch authorities were now convinced of the seriousness of the case.

So now Zahra Bahrami's story is no longer confined to "hot spots" in the new media. EA readers in The Netherlands continued to spread information, and they now report that the political prisoner's situation has moved from dozens of websites to national news and Radio Netherlands Worldwide.