Comments on: Free Saberi and All Other Political Prisoners! http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/04/free-saberi-and-all-other-political-prisoners/ a radical newsletter in the struggle for peace and social justice Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:07:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Klara http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/04/free-saberi-and-all-other-political-prisoners/#comment-44753 Klara Wed, 29 Apr 2009 23:43:35 +0000 http://dissidentvoice.org/?p=7981#comment-44753 Thank you for this discussion of Iranian political prisoners. My heart goes out to these people and their families, especially since I can so easily relate: my cousin and close friend, Silva Harotonian, has also recently been imprisoned in Evin, the same prison as Roxana Saberi. Silva, an Iranian citizen of Christian Armenian descent, recently held a modest role with a humanitarian organization working to improve child and maternal health in Iran. But then, on June 26, 2008 her life changed completely when she was arrested by Iranian authorities. A victim of circumstance, they say that she was conspiring with the U.S. to start a “soft revolution.” While she is innocent of all charges leveled against her, she was sentenced to three years in jail in January 2009. She filed an appeal, which was denied in April; she continues to serve time at Evin. You can learn more about Silva’s story by visiting our Web site, www.FreeSilva.org that we built to share news and to respectfully urge the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran to grant her release. Silva does not have one political bone in her body. All she wanted was to help others and give back to her society. To this day, we are still trying to put together the puzzle of her arrest. By sharing her story, we hope to raise public awareness of these types of situations and our efforts to bring Silva home. If you’re interested, you can help us by signing an appeal to ask for her release, which you will find on our Web site. I pray for the safety and release of Silva, and any other person who has been unfairly detained in Iran, and thank you again for sharing these stories. -Klara Moradkhan Thank you for this discussion of Iranian political prisoners. My heart goes out to these people and their families, especially since I can so easily relate: my cousin and close friend, Silva Harotonian, has also recently been imprisoned in Evin, the same prison as Roxana Saberi.

Silva, an Iranian citizen of Christian Armenian descent, recently held a modest role with a humanitarian organization working to improve child and maternal health in Iran. But then, on June 26, 2008 her life changed completely when she was arrested by Iranian authorities. A victim of circumstance, they say that she was conspiring with the U.S. to start a “soft revolution.” While she is innocent of all charges leveled against her, she was sentenced to three years in jail in January 2009. She filed an appeal, which was denied in April; she continues to serve time at Evin. You can learn more about Silva’s story by visiting our Web site, http://www.FreeSilva.org that we built to share news and to respectfully urge the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran to grant her release. Silva does not have one political bone in her body. All she wanted was to help others and give back to her society.

To this day, we are still trying to put together the puzzle of her arrest. By sharing her story, we hope to raise public awareness of these types of situations and our efforts to bring Silva home. If you’re interested, you can help us by signing an appeal to ask for her release, which you will find on our Web site.

I pray for the safety and release of Silva, and any other person who has been unfairly detained in Iran, and thank you again for sharing these stories.

-Klara Moradkhan

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