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Change for equality, Elnaz Ansari: Esha Momeni, one of the members of the One Million Signatures Campaign in California was arrested on one of Tehran’s highways while driving on October 15th, and has been kept in Evin Prison to this date. Although she called her family a day after her arrest, she has not contacted anyone outside the prison after that call. Esha’s family has gone to the Revolutionary Court a couple of times since their daughter’s arrest; however, they have not had the chance to either see Esha or know about her charges. Gholamreza Momeni, Esha’s father, is a 60-year-old civil engineer, who returned to Iran from the United States, after the 1979 revolution and has dedicated thirty years of his life to road construction in the poorest parts of Iran.
Here is his interview with “Change for Equality”:
-Mr. Momeni, What is the latest news you have from Esha’s status?
From what we know, she is still in section 209 of Evin Prison. She hasn’t called us since the first call she made on the day after her arrest. The court does not give us proper information, and Mr. Dadkhah hasn’t been able to see her yet, and hasn’t read the file yet.
- According to our information, they came to your house from the Ministry of Intelligence and Security. What was their reason for coming to your house again?
Yes, yesterday, Tuesday (October, 21st), they came to our house from Evin to get some of the films they had not taken on their first search of the house. Later, they went to one of Esha’s friends and took some of the films she had. They were just looking for the films and didn’t tell us anything about Esha.
-Have you ever seen these films or do you know what they were about?
These films were collections of the interviews my daughter had carried out with the social activists. I saw these films and enjoyed them. The films demonstrated how much the women in our society have improved and how well-informed they are. These films could have a great impact outside Iran. Esha made these films for school purposes. I myself studied in the United States. These films were going to be shown just in the academic context of the university. Some university professors do not have a proper understanding about Iran and the status of women in this country. Esha was very sensitive about this topic. If she had decided to make a film of the people in the streets, they would have told that she was trying to betray the government by showing the misery and poverty. But what influence will showing the women’s activists have outside Iran except demonstrating the progress of Iran?
- All the interviews Esha had were with the women activists. What is your opinion about the One Million Signatures Campaign?
I completely agree with this project. Your requests are not in contrast with the religion and the safety of the country. I, as a father, agree with your path, and I am proud that my daughter is a member of this campaign. I tell my other daughters and any other women I meet to become a member of this campaign. I am sure if the purposes and requests of the campaign are told properly even to the highest authority, he will not disagree with them, just as a number of clerics do not recognize these requests as opposed to religion and agree with change in some laws. I, also like Esha and like all of you, am a member of this campaign.
- Before this interview, you pointed out that you are a U.S citizen, and Esha as well as one of your other daughters was born in America. Were you active in America, in the activities before the revolution?
I was one of the people who were fighting against the Shah’s regime. I was among the students who were demonstrating in front of the White House when the Shah met Carter. When Imam Khomeini went to Iran from exile, I returned to Iran. Since then, I have been constructing roads in the worst parts of Iran. I was in Bushehr for twelve years, while most of those years were at the time of the war (between Iran and Iraq), four years in Hormozgan, some years in the western parts of the country…When my family returned from the United States, Esha studied in Barazjan, in a school which did not even have any chairs. And I paid for the school chairs myself. I am not trying to say that I am a devoted person; however, our choice was based on our love for Iran. But, now when I see the same girl who came from her comfortable life in the United States to Iran, and got her high school diploma, and not for a moment did her feeling for Iran and her people diminish, I feel pain in my heart.
- Did you become familiar with women’s rights through Esha or is this your own feeling, arising from your love for Iran and your activities before the revolution?
I believe that development is not just in construction, industry, and economy. Development should be simultaneous. We cannot claim that we want to be the top country in the Middle East in twenty years, but our women who are 60% of the educated population live in this inhuman situation because of the unfair laws. Even if in 20 years, we achieve our goals and become a developed country economically, can we show our progress to the world while we suffer from all these social problems including women’s problems? Will our country be called a developed country at all? For all these reasons, Iranian officials must reconsider the laws related to women, and I am sure that finally, they will accept this change.
On the other hand, women’s problems are not just related to women. All of us see women around us who are under pressure because of the unfair laws. One of the reasons that Esha is interested in the topic of women is her personal experience in life. My daughter suffered for years because of these laws, which do not give the women the right to divorce. All of us have seen women who live with unwell and unqualified men, who are supported by unfair laws.
- To this date, more than 50 of the members of the campaign have been arrested and imprisoned, accused of the same activities as your daughter. What do you think the logic behind this reaction toward Esha and others is?
From what I have seen in the films and as I know Esha’s friends from the Campaign, I have not heard any illogical speech. These words and my daughter’s activities had nothing to do with removal of the government. If I felt that my daughter was doing something against the country’s safety or laws, I would be the first one to prevent her from what she was doing. The authorities know better. They have daughters, too. They have met women who have made efforts for years to get divorce or their children’s custody. I don’t really know why the authorities disagree with this movement. Why should a movement which is in favor of all women, and even men, cost this much?
- Yesterday, Mr. Dadkhah claimed that he accepted Esha’s file as her lawyer. What is his legal opinion?
Mr. Dadkhah, as he said in the interview he gave to your website, believes that Esha did not do anything wrong or illegal, and the court cannot claim that she is guilty. He hasn’t read her file yet, and he is apparently not able to do so until the investigations are over. However, from what he knows about the campaign and what we told him about Esha’s activities, he believes that Esha is not guilty.
- Were your visits to the court helpful?
No, I went to the court a day after Esha’s arrest with a valid writ, and requested my daughter’s freedom. Watch the films, and if you find anything illegal, I will bring my daughter to you to answer. They told me to return to my house, and whenever it is necessary we’ll summon you. And do not come to the court until we tell you to. This method of treating a worried family and this way of arresting without documents or without lawyer as well as no permission to make calls or visiting are like the methods that existed in the Middle Ages.
- Esha told her friends before her arrest that she had to be hospitalized for kidney surgery. Has she already been cured or was she arrested before then?
Esha completed her paperwork and was supposed to have the surgery in Atieh Hospital on Tuesday. However, she was arrested two days before her appointment. We are very worried about her health condition because she usually suffers from pain in her kidney as well as stomach problems. Now, under the mental pressure of the prison, it is even worse. Her mother is in a very poor psychological condition, and very worried for Esha. I know from what I read in the campaign news that this is not the first time that these types of pressure have happened, but I don’t understand why the authorities who have seen these sufferings of the worried families are doing this and why don’t they show some kindness and consideration. Why do they deprive the families of their primary rights?
I see all these and feel sorry for the young people of my country. Esha will be released one day, either after a month, a year, or two years. I just don’t know how they answer to themselves and their pangs of conscience for what they did. What will be their answer for how much suffering they caused me and my family? And I know there are other families who felt the same that we feel.
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