Monday, September 03, 2007

Dr. Haleh Esfandiari Finally Returns Home

This has just come in from Azucena Rodriguez. The Iranians should be really profoundly ashamed of their cheap and tawdry behavior on this occaision:

WASHINGTON— Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Middle East Program, left Iran last night, and arrived in Vienna, Austria this early this morning where she will visit with family before returning to her home in the U.S. On August 21, Iranian officials released Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, on bail, and they issued her passport on September 1st.
"After a long and difficult ordeal, I am elated to be on my way back to my home and my family. These last eight months, that included 105 days in solitary confinement in Evin Prison, have not been easy. But I wish to put this episode behind me and to look to the future, not to the past," said Haleh Esfandiari.

Esfandiari was incarcerated in Tehran’s Evin prison on May 8, 2007, on allegations of endangering Iranian national security. During her lengthy confinement, she was denied access to her legal defense team and to independent monitoring bodies such as the ICRC and was allowed only limited contact with her family.

For detailed information regarding Haleh Esfandiari’s detention and imprisonment, including a comprehensive timeline of events, please visit www.wilsoncenter.org/halehnews. Media with questions may reach Sharon McCarter at (202) 691-4016 or sharon.mccarter@wilsoncenter.org.

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