Haleh Esfandiari: FREE!!!

Haleh Esfandiari has left Iran and is en route to meet her husband, sister, and family in Austria today.

I would like to thank everyone who clicked-on and signed-up for the Free Haleh campaign co-sponsored by the American Islamic Congress and MidEast Youth! Their work especially helped to make getting the word out about Dr Esfandiari’s imprisonment so much easier. Stop by their site today and read more about Haleh, her work, and the work of the AIC!

So what more is there to say?

Ilhamdullilah.

That about covers it.

Haleh Esfandiari Freed from Evin Prison

This was originally posted by me on Arabisto.com.

After over 100 days in captivity and months of pressure from US-Academics and the government, today Iran’s judiciary freed imprisoned scholar Haleh Esfandiari after her $3 billion Iranian rials ($330,000 USD) in bail money was posted. The $330,000 was raised by Dr Esfandiari’s elderly mother who used the deed to her home in Tehran to pay the debt. In the United States, family, friends, and colleagues are rejoicing with the news that Dr Esfandiari is one-step closer to returning to her post at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.

The Woodrow Wilson Center issued a statement for immediate release this afternoon, with Director Lee Hamilton stating, “We thank all who offered their prayers and their efforts on behalf of Haleh’s release. An extraordinary amount of people from around the world rallied to Haleh’s side. We have had many interlocutors—official and non-official—on Haleh’s behalf. We have had many staff members at the Wilson Center who worked tirelessly in the hope that this day would come. This outpouring only reinforces Haleh’s life’s work on behalf of dialogue, understanding, and bringing people together.”

Although the charges against Dr Esfandiari have not been dismissed, her release from Evin Prison remains a hopeful sign that the efforts of grassroots diplomacy and non-partisanship will bring her home.

Ilhamdullilah.

Free Haleh Esfandiari on Independence Day

Help celebrate Independence Day by clicking the button to go to the Free Haleh website to help promote the release of detained Iranian scholar Dr Haleh Esfandiari.

Celebrate Academic Freedom today and click for Haleh’s release!!!

On Day 40 of Haleh Esfandiari’s Captivity, Charges or Freedom?

(This post is a modified version of an article that appeared under my column on Arabisto.com)

Today is Day 36 of Haleh Esfandiari’s captivity in Evin Prison on charges that she and her colleagues from the United States are plotting a velvet revolution in the theocracy.

Iran’s judiciary spokesman, Alireza Jamshidi told reporters today in a news conference that they would finish their investigation of the charges against Esfandiari and her colleagues being held in Tehran. An announcement of whether or not they will be formally charged or released will be decided at the end of the week.

According to Washington Post correspondent Robin Wright, “In a sign that the ordeal could drag on, Jamshidi, the Iranian judiciary spokesman, said that a family member may be able to visit Esfandiari next week. Esfandiari’s mother has been turned away from the prison several times.” This statement signals to many that we will have to continue reading the Iranian tea leaves in order to decipher whether or not this is simply political posturing in response to the five Iranian Guards still being held by the United States in Iraq or if the possibility of amnesty is likely before the end of June. Esfandiari’s captivity seems to be keeping pace with the US’s investigation of the captive Iranians inside Iraq.

In the meantime, Dr Esfandiari’s friends and supporters continue to struggle to collect information and keep her cause alive. In addition to the various petitions available on-line, student networks on Facebook have taken up her cause.

For more on this story see Robin Wright’s article at the Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/12/AR2007061200311.html/

To join the Facebook Group for Freeing Dr Esfandiari visit:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2425362314/

To sign the petition to free Dr Esfandiari, go to:

http://www.freehaleh.org/

Esfandiari Formally Charged in Iran

The Prophet Muhammad once said, “The ink of the scholar is worth more than the blood of the martyr.” Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, Director of the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. has been formally charged by the Iranian Judiciary for attempting to facilitate the toppling of clerical rule in Iran, today. The Iranian government claims that through her invitations and support of Iranian scholars visiting the United States that she has undermined and compromised the security of the theocracy.

According to the Associated Press, Iranian State television today said that Dr. Esfandiari was conspiring with the Woodrow Wilson Center and creating a network of opposition to the Iranian state at home and abroad. Further, according to the AP “The broadcast said Esfandiari confirmed during interrogations that her center “invited Iranians to attend conferences, offered them research projects, scholarships … and tried to lure influential elements and link them to decision-making centers in America.”


There is no word yet as to whether or not the trial will be public or private.

Since her arrest on May 8th, Dr. Esfandiari has been allowed only a handful of telephone calls, lasting less than two minutes to her ailing 93 year-old mother, during which she is simply allowed to confirm that she is, “OK.” Further, Shirin Ebadi, Dr. Esfandiari’s legal counsel has not been permitted to either see or represent her client by the Iranian government.

If this case was not so serious, the clerical regime’s paranoia would be laughable. The hysteria that is running rampant through the ranks of the regime is evidence of the pressure for political change and the despots inability to suppress the momentum of a new revolution in the country. Dr. Esfandiari is the unfortunate recipient of the paranoia and tangible disillusionment with the autocratic theocracy.

So much for the ink of the scholar.

X-Posted in my blog on Arabisto.com