Fariba Abbas-Gholizadeh, wife of Mahmoud Shamsolvaezin, a journalist who was arrested along with several other cultural and political figures following the Ashura day events on Monday, told Rooz in an interview about his arrest and those who arrested him.  The interview appears below.

Rooz: After Mr. Shamsolvaezin’s arrest, do you know who arrested him and where he has been taken?

Fariba Abbas-Gholizadeh (Abbas-Gholizadeh): Unfortunately, no.  Security forces came to our house at 2:30 in the morning, and without showing a valid arrest warrant for Mr. Shamsolvaezin instructed him to go with them. I spoke with their boss and asked where they were taking him, and whether it was right to arrest a journalist at that time of the night, and also about who had issued the arrest warrant.  But the person said that they had to carry out their duty, that that was the order and that they had to carry it out.  We do not have any news of him now, 48 hours after the arrest.

Rooz: Was he threatened with an arrest?

Abbas-Gholizadeh: He had been summoned twice in the past two months by security agents and ordered not to speak with Farsi-language media.  He didn’t speak with them.  In recent days he only spoke with an Arabic-language media outlet, where he only discussed the day’s events and news as a journalist.  He did not provide an analysis nor did he support anyone.  He holds a doctorate in sociology and is a political analyst.  If a political analyst cannot deliver simple news to people, what else can he do?  That’s the least people expect of a political analysts.  He has been arrested for no reason.  The situation has been tense in the past few days and our follow ups have been fruitless.  He has not even been given the opportunity to get a lawyer.  I hope to at least find out where he is next week through the Revolutionary Court.  

Rooz: Is it true that they have taken metal buses to the Evin Prison, where they keep the Ashura day detainees for lack of space?  Have you heard anything about that?

Abbas-Gholizadeh: We have heard that too and are very worried about it.  If that is true, that they keep detainees in metal buses for lack of space, that is really unfortunate, and is concerning given Mr. Sham’s health conditions and of course for the health of all detainees who are kept there.  What we hear from other prisoners is also worrisome and concerning. The news is now traveling mouth to mouth.  We hear that they broke Mr. Saharkhiz’s ribs during his arrest and in their attempts to force him to confess.  Now, you can see how worried our children get when they hear these things.  Mr. Shams is a prominent person and there is a lot of coverage about him.   But think about families who have nobody, and who stand in front of the Revolutionary Court for hours to perhaps get news of their loved ones and can’t say anything.  I ask God to grant us all patients.  There is nothing we can do but pray.  You too, please pray for us too.