Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand is the editor of banned publication “Payam-e Mardom” [Voice of the People] and the president of Kurdistan’s Center for Defense of Human Rights. He has been behind bars for more than 50 days in Evin Prison’s infamous ward 209. Kaboudvand was kept in solitary confinement for more than forty days. Ten days ago, prison officials transferred two dangerous criminals convicted on murder charges to Kaboudvand’s cell. Rooz just conducted an exclusive interview with Kaboudvand’s wife, Parnaz Hassani. She says, “The Ministry of Intelligence has cut off my husband’s salary for the past two months. My son and daughter have been forced to work.”

Rooz (R): Mrs. Hassani, what is the latest news on Mr. Kaboudvand’s condition?

Parnaz Hassani (PH): The interrogation phase is almost completed, and my husband is waiting to see what will happen. The case has not been sent to court yet.

R: Why not?

PH: One reason is to put him under more pressure by elongating his arrest period. That way he would “confess” to more charges. That is Mr. Kaboudvand’s opinion.

R: How was your husband the last time you saw him?

PH: Two weeks ago I saw my husband. Physically, he had become very frail, and emotionally he had gotten worse, not better. Till now he has been kept in solitary confinement but now two dangerous criminals have been transferred to his cell.

R: What are the charges of those two criminals and why have then been transferred to Mr. Kaboudvand’s cell?

PH: I don’t think that the transfer of those two people, who are dangerous criminals, is coincidental. One of them has been sentenced. These two individuals too are bewildered as to why they are in my husband’s cell.

R: How is your husband’s lung problem?

PH: He was suffering from lung disease even before imprisonment. His illness got much worse after his 8-day hunger strike. The last time I saw him he was very skinny and weak.

() Why should someone like him be put in prison?

PH: With the atmosphere that exists in the country right now, there is very little tolerance for criticism. So when someone wants to report what is going on, or speak about problems and shortcomings, he is accused of all kinds of things: either that he is connected to a foreign government, or that he works for the opposition. Unfortunately, our regime cannot tolerate criticism.

R: Talk about your life in the absence of your husband. What kind of problems does that create?

PH: My husband worked prior to his arrest. He even paid all the Center’s costs from his own pocket. He was not beholden to any party or group and prepared all of his reports by speaking to friends, ordinary people and prisoners. But now that he is in prison, the Ministry of Intelligence has ordered for his salary to be cut off, so my son and daughter have been forced to work. In my husband’s absence, they are in charge of providing for the family financially.

R: In one sentence tell us how it feels to be the wife of Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand.

PH: I am honored and pleased. He really is a good husband and father.