Parnaz (Nazi) Azima Trapped In Iran

Parnaz (Nazi) Azima, a dual national of Iran and the United States, had her Iranian passport taken from her upon arrival in Tehran in late January, after traveling there from the United States to visit her hospitalized and terminally ill mother. The passport has yet to be returned; Azima has been approached to collaborate with Iranian authorities during her efforts to reclaim her passport.

Azima has been an employee of RFE/RL since September 1998, working for RFE/RL's Persian Service in its incarnations as Radio Azadi and Radio Farda.

Azima endured a similar situation from March-May 2006. At that time, her Iranian passport was taken from her while she was visiting her mother in Tehran, one day before her return to Prague. Iranian authorities also began a case against her at that time, but her passport was given back to her and she was allowed to return to Prague after posting bail of about $200,000 in the form of the deed to her mother's house. During a court proceeding that took place after her return to Prague, at which Azima was represented by her lawyer, the case was dismissed and the house deed used for bail was returned to her mother.

Timeline

May 22 Lawyer Aghasi learns that bail has been adjusted to 510 million tooman (approximately $550,000); but that the court accepted an appraisal of Azima's mother's house for that amount.

May 21 Lawyer Aghasi returns to the Special Security Bureau of the Revolutionary Court's Public Prosecutor's Office to post bail. The bail bond is now accepted. Azima's passport is not returned.Aghasi is interviewed by Radio Farda and other media about the unusual amount set as bail.

Aghasi told Radio Farda that even in the case of former Iranian nuclear negotiator Hossein Musavian, who has been charged with violating national security, bail was set at about $200,000. Aghasi also repeated that the whole case does not have a foundation in Iranian law, as the prosecutor's office cannot quote any clause on which to base its charges.

May 20 Azima and her lawyer, Mohammad-Hossein Aghasi, return to the Special Security Bureau of the Revolutionary Court's Public Prosecutor's Office to post bail, now set at 410 million tooman (approximately $440,000). Bail, in the form of the deed to Azima's mother's house accompanied by an appraisal of the value of the home, was not accepted at this time due to a technicality.Aghasi asked the prosecutor handling Azima's case whether, once the bail bond was accepted, Azima's passport would be returned. The prosecutor replied that it may take a while before the passport is returned, citing "sensitivities." Asked what these were, the prosecutor showed a letter from Iran's Information Ministry with Azima's name in the "subject" line and today's date; the prosecutor refused, however, to show Aghasi the contents of the letter.

May 15 Azima answers summons and appears, with her lawyer, at the Special Security Bureau of the Revolutionary Court's Public Prosecutor's Office, where she is given until May 20 to produce bail in order to regain her passport.

Summary of an unbroadcast interview with Azima and Aghasi:

According to Azima, she was summoned to the Prosecutor's Security Office [this Office includes a special section for interrogation and another special section for assisting the prosecutor]. She was accompanied by one of her lawyers, Mohammad-Hossain Aghasi.

Azima was charged with working for Radio Farda, an institution that allegedly spreads propaganda against the Islamic republic. Based on these charges, bail was set at 550 million Tooman (about $500,000), after which she was allowed to go home. The amount of the bail was determined based on an estimate of the salary Azima has earned during her nine years of employment with Radio Free Europe and Radio Farda. The prosecutor justified the bail by arguing that this income was earned in an illegitimate way and must be turned over to the authorities.

Azima rejected the charges and insisted that Radio Farda's mission is spreading information and not political activism. Azima maintained that she has been employed by RFE/RL, a recognized and legal international entity.

According to Aghasi, Azima's case will be sent to the court on the basis of these charges. Both he and Azima maintained that Radio Farda, as in its mission statement, is a media outlet that provides news and information. Aghasi described the approach of the prosecutors as friendly.

May 14 Swiss Embassy officials inquire with Iran's Foreign Ministry concerning Azima; they are told "Azima's file is being studied."

May 11 Azima informed by her lawyer, Aghasi, that he had received a letter from the Intelligence and Security Office of the Revolutionary Court, dated May 9, summoning both Azima and Aghasi to court on May 15. Aghasi speculates that the best-case scenario would involve a return of Azima's passport in exchange for bail; the worst case could lead to Azima being jailed.

May 9 Azima meets with Swiss Embassy officials, who tell her that an Iranian Foreign Ministry official has responded to their "verbal notice" in person. The response: "The Foreign Ministry is studying [Azima's] passport-confiscation case."

May 2 Azima informed that the Swiss Embassy will present a "verbal notice" on her behalf to Iran's Foreign Ministry on May 6.

April 24 Azima meets with an official from the U.S. Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, reports on what happened to her passport and her experiences in trying to regain the passport. She is told that the Swiss Embassy will attempt to pursue the case through diplomatic channels.

April 23 Azima's lawyer, Mohammad-Hossein Aghasi, is told by an official of the Intelligence and Security Office of the Revolutionary Court, that Azima's "passport will not be returned anytime soon" and she will remain in Tehran for two or three years. According to Aghasi, the official dismissed all references to the letter of the law and said no judicial procedure is necessary.

Aghasi says [the] Security Office is a newly established institution that did not exist last year when Azima was persecuted and then charged in court. Aghasi adds that this institution does not even regard itself accountable to Ayatollah Mahmud Shahrudi, Iran's chief justice.

Aghasi also said when he told the official Azima's job may be in jeopardy because she is blocked from traveling to Prague to report to work, the official responded by saying that would not be bad, as she has been working for an antirevolutionary broadcasting service.

Aghasi added that although up until now he was advising Azima not to use her dual-citizenship status, the authorities have left him no other way but for him to inform Azima she could call the Swiss Embassy at this time.

April 17, 22 Azima contacted by Swiss Embassy officials (the Swiss maintain a U.S. Interests Section as part of their embassy in Tehran).

April 15 Azima's lawyer, Mohammad-Hossein Aghasi, is told there is "no answer.... you have to wait" during a meeting at the Intelligence and Security Office of the Revolutionary Court in an effort to regain Azima's passport. Aghasi is shown RFE/RL's April 13 press release on Azima and is asked why it was issued, "even though Aghasi had said he wants to keep the issue out of the media?" Aghasi answered that Azima had kept this quiet for over two months. Aghasi added that Azima had no alternative but to tell RFE/RL why she cannot report to work and even then RFE/RL itself had kept the issue quiet until the need was felt to intervene in the hope of expediting Nazi's return to work. According to Aghasi, after he referred to the law and said passport confiscation before filing charges against Azima was unlawful, the official told him he is aware of the legalities, yet he has chosen to make that decision and that Aghasi should return in 10 days.

April 11 Azima and lawyer Mohammad-Hossein Aghasi visit the Intelligence and Security Office of the Revolutionary Court; they are told that "a new file has been opened for her and she must wait [for her passport] until they send a note."

Azima told by lawyer Aghasi that he will meet with the person "responsible for that Security Office" on April 15; Aghasi advised Azima that it might be helpful to have word about the meeting and her plight revealed as news by Radio Farda.

March 28 Azima (and her brother) visit the Intelligence and Security Office of the Revolutionary Court; her passport is not returned, nor is a date offered for the return of the passport. Azima is told to wait for a notice to be sent; she is treated in a rough manner by her questioner (who implied he was the prosecutor handling Azima's case, in response to a question by Azima), who asked about her relationship with Radio Farda. Azima advised by retained lawyer Shirin Ebadi to go public, as a way of demonstrating that Azima cannot be harassed into collaborating. Her second retained lawyer, Mohammad-Hossein Aghasi, advises that this should be a last resort and that Azima should, for now, use a systematic approach.

Several days later, Azima returns to the Office of Passport Affairs to reclaim her passport; she is referred to an Intelligence and Security Office of the Revolutionary Court.

February 4 Azima visits the Office of Passport Affairs (under the president of the republic), where she is asked to collaborate with Iranian intelligence; she refuses; passport not returned.

January 25 Azima arrives in Tehran to see her ill, hospitalized mother. At Tehran's airport, her passport and a book text are confiscated; she is given a receipt and told to visit an office in 10 days to reclaim the passport.

January 15 Azima leaves Prague for Washington, D.C., for medical reasons; due back in Prague on February 4.[Azima now being treated in Tehran for unspecified "problems with my health" (which were the reason for Azima's original trip to the U.S.).]

Parnaz Azima Bio:
Parnaz Azima has worked for RFE/RL since 1998, first as a broadcaster for RFE/RL's Persian-language Radio Azadi and then, since 2002, as a broadcaster with Radio Farda, the joint RFE/RL-Voice of America 24-hour, seven-day-a-week Persian-language, broadcast service to Iran.

While working for RFE/RL, Azima has produced numerous programs on Persian literature and poetry, the status of women, ethnic and religious minorities, the media and other aspects of human rights; and Iran's diplomatic relations. She has also produced program series on modern Iranian history, literature and political/philosophical thought.

Azima is a well-known translator of literary works, who has written and translated more than 30 books from English and French into Persian, including "The Old Man And The Sea," by Ernest Hemingway, "Love In The Time Of Cholera," by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and " Hope Dies Last: The Autobiography Of Alexander Dubcek." She is currently working on a translation from French to Persian of a book on the meaning of "poverty" by Iranian sociologist and former UN official Majid Rahnama. Azima's translation from English to Persian of J.G. Merquior's "Foucault" is ready for publication.

Azima holds degrees in English literature and library science from the universities of Shiraz and Tehran. While living in Paris, Azima focused on Iranian studies at Sorbonne University. Azima has also been actively involved in the Iranian Oral History Project at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Azima's family includes a son and two grandchildren who live in the United States, as well as three brothers and a 90-year-old mother in Iran.

Help Free Parnaz Azima:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/346108706