Roxana Saberi had been working in Iran for nearly six years, but during the recent election turmoil she was arrested and put in the notorious Evin Prison. Four men forced her from her Tehran apartment and her captors harshly interrogated her and accused her of espionage. They threatened her with life in prison or worse but told her that if she cooperated with them, she would be released. Under pressure she fabricated a confession in return for her freedom, a choice she quickly came to regret.
It wasn’t until she met other prisoners at Evin that she rediscovered her courage and her conscience. In her new book Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran [HarperCollins, March 2010] she says “I saw the dark and bright sides of human nature, including my own.” Her cellmates included followers of a civil disobedience movement, a humanitarian worker, a student activist and Baha’is – members of the largest religious minority in Iran. When she heard their stories and their deep convictions that landed them in prison, she realized even more the need to recant her false confession and to stand up to her persecutors.
After a sham trial that made headlines around the world, Saberi was sentenced to eight years in prison, but following intense international pressure, including the OPC Freedom of the Press letters, she was released on appeal in May 2009.
Saberi grew up in Fargo, North Dakota and was Miss North Dakota in 1997. She has a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Northwestern University and in international relations from Cambridge University. She has reported for ABC Radio, BBC, Feature Story News, Fox News, NPR and PRI. This will be the second time that Saberi has appeared on an OPC program. In June of last year she was part of a panel Iran: Post Election Crackdown. It was her only press conference after release from Iran imprisonment and was well attended by the media. Her new book provides unique insight into Iranian society, the tensions in the Islamic regime and U.S. – Iran relations, shedding light on developments taking place today in tumultuous Iran.
OPC member Roger Cohen, columnist for The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune, will be the interlocutor. Cohen, himself, reported from Tehran during the election upheaval with passionate commentary.
The OPC Book Night will be at The Times Center, 242 West 41 Street on April 5 at 6 p.m. Sponsors for this event are Amnesty International, Asian Heritage Network of The New York Times, The Medill School of Journalism, HarperCollins Publishers and the OPC.
Reservations are essential through the OPC office 212-626-9220, by logging and using the e-RSVP feature, or e-mail the office.