Fatemeh Kamali Ahmad-Saraei, the wife of Emadeddin Baghi, who was arrested one week after the death of ayatollah Montazeri and transferred to Ward 240 of the Evin Prison, tells Rooz in an interview that her husband’s arrest is an instance of “punishment before crime.” Commenting on the confiscation of her husband’s research notes and papers, she says, “Apparently the only think not given worth to in Iran is time and people who think and research.”
You can read the interview below.
Rooz: Are you aware of Mr. Baghi’s condition in prison? Does he have access to the necessary medical treatment, given his health background and especially his severe back pain?
Fatemeh Kamali Ahmad-Saraei (Ahmad-Saraei): I have no news from him. One time they called and said he is not doing well. But they added that prison doctors are treating him. We have written a letter to Mr. Larijani which we will publish soon. The letter documents his condition and the repeated legal violations he has faced since his arrest until now.
Rooz: How did the officers treat you during the arrest?
Ahmad-Saraei: One of them was very abusive. It was very difficult. They took everything, even things that had nothing to do with the case, like the family’s handwritten notes, mobile phones, and even the medals that he has won.
Rooz: You have been faced with the repeated arrests of your husband over the years.
Ahmad-Saraei: Mr. Baghi and our family have been summoned, interrogated and imprisoned more than seventy times. More than sixty of those times involved him. You get the answer to your question with these numbers. Can you imagine how damaging this much pressure and oppression can be to a family? Or how much psychological and mental problems it can cause? What secret work has Mr. Baghi done? His entire work is transparent. He has not engaged in any illegal activities.
Rooz: Has he been told on what charges he has been arrested?
Ahmad-Saraei: The officers who arrested Mr. Baghi showed us a piece of paper that contained only a stamp. The stamp belonged to Mr. Jafari Dolatabadi, Tehran’s prosecutor general. The paper wasn’t signed. It didn’t even have his name on it. It was a general arrest warrant to prevent events after the death of ayatollah Montazeri. In effect they wanted to punish before the crime.
Rooz: Did they confiscate his unpublished research too?
Ahmad-Saraei: They confiscated his notes, compiled from twenty years of research. It feels like taking away the fruit of your life. They confiscated his hard-drives also. One of his research projects alone took four years. These things are previous. Apparently the only think not given worth to in Iran is time and people who think and research. Their research is either archived and not used or, if it is critical, confiscated and never returned.
