Mother of Imprisoned Journalist to Rouhani: We Did Not Vote for You Just Because of Sanctions

The mother of Bahman Darolshafaee, a journalist and translator who was recently arrested, wrote a letter to Hassan Rouhani protesting her son's detention, stating, "We did not vote for you just to lift the sanctions." Bahman Darolshafaee was arrested on Wednesday morning, February 14, at his home in Tehran. Today, February 21, Safoura Tofangchiha, the mother of the detained journalist, published a letter addressed to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, protesting the "unjustified" arrest and his transfer to an "unknown location." In a part of this letter published on her Facebook page, she wrote: "I am the mother of Bahman, Bahman Darolshafaee. A week ago at this time, right here in our home, several men stood waiting for me to hug my son and say goodbye. Then they took him away. They did not say where, they did not say why, they did not say who they were, and what they wanted from my son." In another part of the letter, she noted, "I wrote because I have a right over you, like millions of other Iranians who elected you," addressing Hassan Rouhani: "Anyone who does not know, you know that we did not vote for you just to lift the sanctions... We voted for you to keep hope alive, to reduce oppression, to ensure human dignity, and for the youth to stay and build Iran." At the end of her letter, she wrote: "I know you are busy. You are the president, and it is the anniversary of the revolution. By the way, I have a right over you for this republic and that revolution. The proof is my son's name, who has been in solitary confinement for a week for no crime." The agents who arrested Bahman Darolshafaee have not disclosed the reason for his detention, and there is no information about his whereabouts. Mr. Darolshafaee had previously worked with BBC Persian but returned to Iran two years ago after ending his collaboration with the media outlet and has not engaged in journalistic activities since, shifting his work to book editing and translation. His return from London to Tehran did not lead to his arrest, but he faced long and repeated interrogations. Before emigrating from Iran and joining BBC Persian, Mr. Darolshafaee worked with various newspapers and publications, including as a journalist for Hamshahri, Shargh, Etemad Melli, and Chelcheragh magazine. Six days after his arrest, Bahman Darolshafaee informed his mother in a phone call that "he is in a cell, being interrogated but is fine." The arrest of journalists and political and civil activists in Iran has been consistently criticized by human rights organizations, the United Nations, and Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran. UN human rights experts have also urged Iran to end the arrest, intimidation, and interrogation of journalists and other civil activists and to facilitate free discussion ahead of the parliamentary elections in March this year.