Farzaneh Djalilian Asl was incarcerated in prison for her political views in 1980. She was subject to appalling conditions, torture and terror. The launch is to celebrate publishing the book in the 100 year anniversary of PEN International.
When the Shah fled Iran in 1979, the happy, uneventful
life that Farzaneh had known was shattered. Promised
freedoms were eroded and universities closed in 1980,
which led Farzaneh and her university friends to become
involved in political activities aligned with Mojahedin.
At the age of 21, Farzaneh was amongst many arrested at a
massive protest of an estimated 500,000 people and spent
the next five years imprisoned. Her time in prison was
harrowing. The conditions harsh. They were tortured and
many executed.
‘I spent over two years of my time in a punishment
ward where I was transferred in the middle of a cold
winter night. The ward’s windows were broken, and
the jail was in a deserted landscape which brought an
icy cold breeze inside the ward. We could feel the cold
deep in our bones. We did not have enough blankets nor
clothes to keep ourselves warm.’
Finally in 1990, her parents hired people smugglers to help
Farzaneh to escape to Turkey. After ten months in Turkey,
with the assistance of UNHCR and the Australian Embassy
in Ankara, she was able to travel to Australia to a new life.
