The mother of Arash and Kamiar Alaei, two doctors who have recently been sentenced to three and six years imprisonment respectively for allegedly plotting a velvet revolution, broke her silence after seven months in a conversation with Rooz. Here are the excerpts of the conversation which was interrupted several times due to Mrs. Alaei's emotional outbursts and sobbing.
Rooz (R): Why have you remained silent in the past few months?
Alaei (A): I remained silent because I thought the Islamic Republic will help me. I spoke with the judge a thousand times and told him that his sentence for my sons had to be just. I believed that they would issue a fair sentence. The world knows what my sons have done and because of those things it supports them.
R: Have you spoken with your sons in prison?
A: I wasn't able to visit them easily, but I spoke with them and they said, mother, we are not guilty. Their attorney read the case and told us there is nothing in their case. My sons have not confessed to anything. Now they say that they will broadcast the film [of confessions], and I don't know about that. It is possible that they forced my sons into confessing on tape with torture. It is possible that they gave whatever they wrote themselves to my sons to confess, but my sons have not done anything.
R: Your sons have been in prison for about seven months. How did that time transpire for you and your family?
A: We have not had a normal life during this period [sobbing]. I have not eaten anything since yesterday when they announced the judgment. My sons have said that they will go on a hunger strike. This sentence that they have issued is unjust. What can I say to you? [The interview was interrupted for several minutes because of Mrs. Alaei's emotional state and then resumed.] My sons love Iran and if they didn't love Iran they wouldn't have come back. They could have lived comfortably in America but they returned to serve our people.
R: What request do you have of officials?
A: They must issue judgments that are based on Islam. The trial must be just. Is it a crime to attend a conference? My son has worked for seven years at the Masih Daneshvari hospital with Dr. Velayati [current advisor in international affairs to Supreme Leader]. Whatever they have done has been with Iranian officials. If they have done something outside Iran officials have been informed.
R: How are Arash and Kamiar faring based on their conversations with you and how has prison affected them?
A: They are not doing well, especially when they heard about the verdict they really crumbled. It really bothers them that their names are publicized in such a fashion. Instead of thanking them for their work they treat them like this.
R: How was their physical state in prison?
A: They are in a bad state. Anyone who spends seven months in prison is not in a goods state. For sixty-three days they were kept in solitary confinement. They were separated from each other. Only recently, after going to court and receiving their verdicts, they were moved to the general ward.
R: Did officials say when your sons will be released?
A: They haven't yet. They have sentenced Kamiar to three and Arash to six years in prison. [With tears] I thought they would come home in a week and now they are sentenced to six years in prison. What have my sons done? What crime have they committed?
