Nooshabeh Amiri Only a few months have passed since my last interview with Ahmad Batebi titled “The ‎story of that bloody shirt”. Neither him nor I thought at the time that our next ‎conversation would be from the US. The following interview, whose full version will ‎soon appear in the form of a book in two English and Persian, is the story of the journey ‎of the bloody shirt that culminated in a great escape, and according to Batebi, will arrive ‎in even better places for all human rights advocates in Iran. 

Here is the conversation ‎between Rooz’s Nooshabeh Amiri and Ahmad Batebi, the student who was arrested for ‎his human rights passions, who became international when the Economist put his picture ‎on its front cover, who spent years in the dungeons of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and ‎who has now eventually escaped the bonds:

Nooshabeh Amiri (NA): Last time we spoke, there was no reference about leaving Iran. ‎What happened?‎

Ahmad Batebi (AB): That is right. We both worked together in Rooz Online. We even ‎talked a few days before the Iranian new year (March 21st). Then one day they called me ‎from prison and told me that my leave would not be extended any further, and so I had to ‎return to prison. I was surprised because they had told me that I would remain free so ‎long as I did not engage in political activities. In fact I did not do any overt political ‎work. Yes, I was active covertly. So I decided to call my interrogator at the Ministry of ‎Intelligence. He was in charge of me and regularly talked wit me about what I was doing. ‎I left him several message and when he did not call back, I concluded that even those at ‎the Ministry wished to return me to prison, and so would not intervene. So I called ‎everybody that I knew in order to talk with them. But no one was around because of the ‎Nowruz new year holidays. I did not know what to do and could not make a decision. My ‎view was that I had already spent 9 years in prison, which was not little or easy, and so if ‎I returned, there would be a life and death consequence. In addition to myself, this would ‎also put my family under serious strain, particularly my mother. On the other hand I also ‎thought that there was a limit to how much I could take the prison. So I decided to ‎contact some of my friends in the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI).‎

NA: How did you know them?‎

AB: I was in contact with them. Some from prison, others from outside.‎

NA: What happened next?‎

AB: I told them the story. They told me to be ready, and that they would make the ‎arrangements. They did not tell me how and only said that they would arrange for it. On ‎the first day of the new year (March 21st) I was on my way from Tehran to Karaj when ‎they called. They said they wanted to see me at a designated place. I thought they just ‎wanted to talk about the details of my trip. So I went to the spot carrying my usual ‎backpack, which included a camera and some documents. The operation began right from ‎then. The next command I heard was:” Get in.”‎

NA: You mean right off a city street?‎

AB: Yes. When I told them that I did not have anything on me, they said it was ok. So we ‎got into a car and drove off.

‎ NA: To where?‎

AB: I did not know. They drove me from one town to the next. On unusual roads and ‎ways. We zigzaged until we arrived at the border. I cannot reveal the name of the border ‎town.‎

NA: How did you feel when they told you that you were actually leaving the country?‎

AB: I felt extremely sad. It was all too sudden and I was not prepared. My thoughts went ‎to my family, friends, the country that I love so much. And in addition to these I had the ‎guarantee that I had left behind with the authorities. Not seeing my family members, the ‎issue of money. Yet, I could not stop the intense energy and operation that had already ‎started. So I went along. The surrounding areas of the border town at which we arrived ‎had been mined, so we had to change border towns several times. Eventually we arrived ‎at a town that had a military governor. They said that he would personally shoot people at ‎nights. So we could not leave at night. We continued this dodging and changing borders ‎spots continuously until we finally made it across the border.‎

NA: Where did you sleep at nights?‎

AB: Houses of villagers and in the towns in the houses of DKPI members.‎

NA: Did they actually know who you were?‎

AB: No. They used a pseudonym for me. They had told me in their emails much earlier ‎what my name would be and called me that.

NA: So they did not know that they were taking Ahmad Batebi out of the country?‎

AB: No, they were simply carrying out the mission that had been assigned to them.‎

NA: What was your pseudonym name?‎

AB: Bahram. Bahram Shojayi. So we eventually crossed the border. We arrived at a ‎place that the Islamic Republic shelled continuously and so we were almost killed. ‎Finally we surrendered ourselves to Iraqi peshmarghs (fighters). They in turn turned us ‎over to an intelligence office at a border town.‎

NA: So you stepped across the Iranian border. What difference did that single step make?‎

AB: A lot.‎

NA: Such as?‎

AB: A fear took over me. I still feel it. Imagine you are in a house at a moment and then ‎they transport you into a glass house. A place where everyone can see you, while you ‎can’t see them. There is nobody to help you and you don’t know anyone. There is no one ‎that you can trust. You don’t really know who you now are, or what you are. This is ‎because I had not been planning this and had no intention of leaving. I did not even ‎money for this. I only had a bank account where the money that I received from Rooz ‎was deposited. The only thing in this regard that I could do was to withdraw my money ‎from my account when I was in one of the towns en-route. This was only 400,000 Toman ‎‎(a little less than $500). That is all I had to get out, which I did. I did not tell anyone ‎where I was going and had not consulted with others either. Only the men from KDPI, ‎who moved me out of the country. This state of affairs brings fear. It was a difficult ‎situation. I was now in a war-torn country. A country where arms are freely available. I ‎saw murder and I saw fighting. But none of this mattered any longer. I had started ‎something and had to continue. This is how I have always been.‎

NA: What happened next?‎

AB: At the intelligence office in Iraq, we told them that we were linked to the ‎Democratic Party. They sent us to a different bureau. Then the Democratic Party vehicles ‎arrived and they took us to Kooe. This is the headquarters of the Democratic Party. They ‎provided me with a house to hide in. I stayed there and did not leave it. Then on my ‎request and that of my attorney in the US, they took me to the UN office in the town of ‎Arbil. Fortunately, the official there knew of me. They processed my paper work very ‎rapidly and asked me where I wanted to go. I did not have a specific place in mind. I had ‎remained in contact with some of my friends through email and had told them that I had ‎been forced to leave the country. They suggested three places: France, Canada and the ‎US. They felt these places were the best for remaining active. So I named these countries ‎to the UN person. At the same time, my US attorney, Lili Mazaheri was following my ‎case until …‎

NA: Were you in one place for the 2 or 3 months? In Arbil?‎

AB: No. I was with the DKPI and they constantly changed where I stayed. They did it for ‎security reasons. They had even assigned a team of guards for me who watched over day ‎and night.‎

NA: Were you in contact with your family members during this period:‎

AB: A couple times, until something bad happened.‎

NA: Bad?‎

AB: yes. First I was threatened military in Iraq, which is why the DKPI had to change the ‎place I was staying at repeatedly.‎

NA: What military threat?‎

AB: They had sent a terrorist group to kill a number of people. The incident was reported ‎in some of the local newspapers as well.‎

NA: What happened then?‎

AB: I had been trying to give them the impression that I was in Turkey, but the Ministry ‎of Intelligence (Iran’s) had identified my personal cellphone number - which I thought ‎only the UN had - and called me while I was in Iraq. They told me that I had to return to ‎Iran and asked me to present myself to the Iranian consul, adding that they would issue ‎me a passport and provide the necessary monetary needs so you can go anywhere you ‎desire. I recorded their promises and conversation.‎

NA: How did you feel when you heard their voice?‎

AB: I was surprised because I thought nobody had my telephone number. Of course I did ‎know that they had a lot of resources in their intelligence activities. Anyway, after they ‎called, members of the DKPI wrote a letter to the UN telling them that they had received ‎information that put my life at risk, and that they had to take me out of Iraq to Sweden as ‎soon as possible. But before anything was done, Lili Mazaheri obtained an entry US visa ‎for me and I went to Austria on my way to the US.

‎ NA: How were you when you arrived in Vienna? It was very different, wasn’t it?‎

AB: Yes, a huge difference. Also while in Iraq, even though I was free, but in fact my ‎movements were very limited. I could not leave the room I stayed in.‎

NA: What was the first thing you did at the airport in Vienna?‎

AB: I opened my laptop and was shocked at the speed of the Internet. So I updated my ‎software. Then I went to YouTube and saw films. I enjoyed myself. I continued to ‎download all kinds of files, and then delete them. I enjoyed doing that. ‎

NA: Did you look at people around you?‎

AB: Yes, especially as the European soccer games were going on then. I saw all kinds of ‎people. Everybody was watching the games while I watched them. I thought about the ‎things that Iranians were dealing with on a daily basis, and how the Europeans lived. We ‎are busy trying to stay alive while these people come from all over to watch a football ‎game. The more I looked at them the more foreign I felt. A feeling of fear. The same ‎feeling that I felt when I crossed the border from Iran into Iraq. I felt like a child that had ‎just been born, come into this new strange world. How was I going to live in this new ‎world, I thought to myself. How would I think and how would I keep my own identity, ‎etc. These thoughts kept running through my mind so intensively that even though I was ‎short on sleep, I couldn’t actually fall asleep. Eventually of course I did. Then I sensed a ‎woman put a blanket over me at the airport. I fell asleep when I felt warmer. I woke up ‎rested and was ready to continue my journey.‎

NA: then what?‎

AB: When I was getting ready to board a plane, I saw a few individuals who looked like ‎Iranian agents who checked me out. They had beards and looked aggressive. I am not ‎sure whether they had recognized me or not, but the way they looked instilled a doubt as ‎to whether I should get on the plane or not. A police officer at the airport noticed my ‎hesitation and asked me the reason. I told him about the suspicious characters and he ‎went to them and asked them for their passports. I took advantage of the moment and ‎boarded the plane. ‎

NA: A plane that was flying to America?‎

AB: Yes, America. I have filmed everything from the moment I left Iran with my mobile ‎‎(cellphone). Everything from Tehran, crossing the border, boarding a train, the UN ‎office. I have both sound and video recordings. I have recorded the conversations of the ‎Iranian intelligence agents who had called from Iran while I was in Iraq. Soon human ‎rights activists will publish the sound and vide recordings that I have made and the ‎documents regarding my UN work and my presence in this country.‎

source: roozonline.com