Maziar Bahari
Encyclopedia
Maziar BahariMaziar Bahari (مازیار بهاری, (born 1967) is an Iranian Canadian journalist
, film maker and human rights activist. He was a reporter for Newsweek
from 1998 to 2011. Bahari was incarcerated by the Iranian government from June 2009 to October 20, 2009, and has written a New York Times best seller
family memoir, Then They Came for Me
.
's regime in the 1950s, and his sister Maryam under the revolutionary government of Ayatollah Khomeini in the 1980s.
He is married to Paola Gourley, an Italian-English lawyer working in London, who gave birth to their first child in October 2009 shortly after his release from prison.
and the United States
and ultimately forced to return to the Third Reich. In producing the film, Bahari became the first Muslim to make a film about the Holocaust. When asked what motivated him to make the film, he cited the courses he took at Concordia, where he:
In 1997 Bahari began reporting in Iran and making independent documentaries, and in 1998 he became Newsweek
magazine's Iran correspondent.
He has produced a number of other documentaries and news reports for Channel 4
, BBC
and other broadcasters around the world on subjects as varied as private lives of Ayatollahs, African architecture, Iranians' passion for football and contemporary history of Iran
. In 2003, Harvard Film Archive praised Bahari's work for, "In a country known for neorealist fiction films that focus on small events in the lives of individuals, the work of Iranian director Maziar Bahari is somewhat anomalous. Employing a traditional documentary style to explore more far-reaching cultural events, Bahari’s films provide a glimpse inside contemporary Iranian culture as they reveal the human element behind the headlines and capture cultural truths through the lens of individual experience. Representing a new generation of young Iranian filmmakers, Bahari’s trenchant looks at social issues in his country have brought both controversy and international acclaim."
Bahari's films have won several awards and nominations including an Emmy in 2005. A retrospective of Bahari's films was organized in November 2007 by the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. In September 2009, Bahari was nominated by Desmond Tutu
for the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord, widely known as Spain's Nobel Prize
.
, Bahari was arrested at his family's home in Tehran and taken to Evin Prison
. In July, while incarcerated, he appeared
in a televised confession (broadcast internationally by PressTV) telling his interviewer that Western journalists worked as spies; that he had covered "illegal demonstrations" and "illegal gatherings", and was helping promote a "colour revolution" (i.e. peaceful, democratic regime-change).
His confession was dismissed by his family, his colleagues, and Reporters Without Borders
, saying that it must have come under duress. Outside Iran, an international campaign to free him was headed by his wife and included petitions launched by Committee to Protect Journalists
, the Index on Censorship
, International PEN
, and groups of documentary filmmakers. Newsweek ran full-page advertisements in several major newspapers calling for his release. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
spoke publicly of his case.
On October 20, after 118 days in jail, Bahari was released on $300,000 bail, charged with 11 counts of espionage. He was allowed to leave the country and return to London days before the birth of his daughter.
and was the subject of an article in Newsweek. Bahari stated he confessed for television after physical and psychological torture. He was held in solitary confinement, interrogated daily (either blindfolded or made to face away from his interrogator), threatened with execution, and repeatedly slapped, kicked, punched, and hit with a belt by his interogator. Bahari's interrogator told him they knew he (Bahari) "was working for four different intelligence agencies: the CIA, Mossad
, MI6 and Newsweek." Bahari (who vehemently denies spying on Iran) believes it was desperation to find "any evidence to prove I was a spy" that led his captors to believe his providing Jason Jones
and his producer with a list of Iranians they could talk to in Iran, was evidence of his being a spy. (Bahari provided such a list shortly before he was interviewed by Jones,
a correspondent of The Daily Show
, who dressed up as a spy as a joke for the story.)
In interviews Bahari stated that his interrogator told him not to talk about what happened to him in prison, as the Revolutionary Guards have "people all around the world and they can always bring me back to Iran in a bag". Bahari has stated that he will not be able to safely return to Iran until the Islamic Republic
falls.
op-ed to launch the campaign Bahari wrote to Iran's Supreme Leader
, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, "You may feel safe in your modest house, protected by thousands of revolutionary guards. But beyond them the world is changing. Iran is changing. In 1978, as the shah was doing his best to stifle his people, Ayatollah Khomeini promised that 'in an Islamic Iran the media will have the freedom to express all Iran’s realities and events.' Hoping they could realize that promise, Iranians rose up and overthrew the shah. Ayatollah Khamenei, those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it."
, for filming and airing an interview with him under duress. Press TV
had interviewed several prisoners in the past, including Sakineh Ashtiani
, but had been cleared by Ofcom
, British broadcasting regulator. In May 2011, Ofcom
upheld Bahari's three complaints against Press TV
. In summary Ofcom
said Press TV
's presentation of Bahari was unfair because it "omitted material facts and was placed in a context in which inferences adverse to Mr Bahari could be drawn". The media regulator also said that Press TV failed to get his consent and this "contributed to the overall unfairness to Mr Bahari in the item broadcast". Ofcom
added that filming and broadcasting the interview without consent "while he was in a sensitive situation and vulnerable state was an unwarranted infringement of Mr Bahari's privacy".
Upon the release of Ofcom's findings, Press TV
launched a campaign against Bahari and Ofcom. Bahari was accused of being a "an MI6 contact person" taking guidance from "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, protocol #7" Press TV
called Ofcom
's ruling "part of an anti-Iranian campaign," and that "A quick look at senior decision makers at OFCOM
demonstrates that the regulator is mostly made up of former Channel4 and BBC
executives, some of whom are well-linked to and influenced by powerful pro-Israeli
politicians."
family memoir, Then They Came for Me
. The book has been called "incredible" by Jon Stewart
of The Daily Show
who is working with Bahari on a film based on the book. Doug Saunders
of The Globe and Mail
called the book “Moving and, at times, very funny which offers a number of lessons about the way Middle Eastern politics work.” Leslie Scrivener of The Toronto Star explained “Then They Came for Me
is a gripping story that weaves his family’s history of incarceration by Iranian rulers with his own.” Mother Jones
magazine said that “Then They Came for Me
is not only a fascinating, human exploration into Bahari's personal experience but it also provides insight into the shared experience of those affected by repressive governments everywhere.” Kirkus Reviews
praised the book for “Providing an illuminating glimpse into the security apparatus of one of the world’s most repressive countries. Especially timely given recent events throughout the Middle East, this book is recommended for anyone wishing to better understand the workings of a police state.”
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
, film maker and human rights activist. He was a reporter for Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
from 1998 to 2011. Bahari was incarcerated by the Iranian government from June 2009 to October 20, 2009, and has written a New York Times best seller
Best Seller
Best Seller is a 1987 film written by Larry Cohen, directed by John Flynn and starring Brian Dennehy and James Woods. The plot concerns a career hitman, played by Woods, who wants to turn his life story into a book, to be written by Dennehy's character, a veteran police officer turned...
family memoir, Then They Came for Me
Then They Came for Me
Then They Came for Me, A Family's Story of Love, Captivity and Survival is a memoir by Iranian Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari with Aimee Molloy, that chronicles Bahari's family history, as well as his arrest and imprisonment following controversial 2009 Iran presidential election...
.
Family and education
Bahari was born in Tehran, Iran but moved to Canada in 1988 to study film and political science. His family has been involved in dissent politics in Iran, his father was imprisoned by the shahMohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, Shah of Persia , ruled Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979...
's regime in the 1950s, and his sister Maryam under the revolutionary government of Ayatollah Khomeini in the 1980s.
He is married to Paola Gourley, an Italian-English lawyer working in London, who gave birth to their first child in October 2009 shortly after his release from prison.
Career
He graduated with a degree in communications from Concordia University in Montreal. Soon after, Bahari made his first film, The Voyage of the Saint Louis, about the attempt by 937 German Jewish refugees to escape Nazi Germany on that ship in 1939, who were turned away by both CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and ultimately forced to return to the Third Reich. In producing the film, Bahari became the first Muslim to make a film about the Holocaust. When asked what motivated him to make the film, he cited the courses he took at Concordia, where he:
Later, while he was imprisoned in Iran the film "haunted" him, with his interrogators accusing him of being on a mission to work for Zionists.studied the modern history of the Jews and I was fascinated by the history of the Jews in North America. I took a course on Freud and religion and the professor talked a lot about early 20th century anti-Semitism in the U.S. and Canada. I had no idea that even up until the 1950s Jews were discriminated against in North America, so I wanted to explore that further. As an immigrant, I was interested in the history of Jewish immigration from Europe to America. So I looked for a story to combine all these elements and came across the story of the St. Louis.
In 1997 Bahari began reporting in Iran and making independent documentaries, and in 1998 he became Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
magazine's Iran correspondent.
He has produced a number of other documentaries and news reports for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and other broadcasters around the world on subjects as varied as private lives of Ayatollahs, African architecture, Iranians' passion for football and contemporary history of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. In 2003, Harvard Film Archive praised Bahari's work for, "In a country known for neorealist fiction films that focus on small events in the lives of individuals, the work of Iranian director Maziar Bahari is somewhat anomalous. Employing a traditional documentary style to explore more far-reaching cultural events, Bahari’s films provide a glimpse inside contemporary Iranian culture as they reveal the human element behind the headlines and capture cultural truths through the lens of individual experience. Representing a new generation of young Iranian filmmakers, Bahari’s trenchant looks at social issues in his country have brought both controversy and international acclaim."
Bahari's films have won several awards and nominations including an Emmy in 2005. A retrospective of Bahari's films was organized in November 2007 by the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. In September 2009, Bahari was nominated by Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
for the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord, widely known as Spain's Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
.
Arrest, imprisonment, release
On the morning of June 21 2009, during the 2009 Iranian Election Protests2009 Iranian election protests
Protests following the 2009 Iranian presidential election against the disputed victory of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi occurred in major cities in Iran and around the world starting June 13, 2009...
, Bahari was arrested at his family's home in Tehran and taken to Evin Prison
Evin Prison
Evin House of Detention is a prison in Iran, located in Evin, northwestern Tehran. It is noted for its political prisoners' wing, where prisoners have been held both before and after the 1979 Iranian Revolution...
. In July, while incarcerated, he appeared
in a televised confession (broadcast internationally by PressTV) telling his interviewer that Western journalists worked as spies; that he had covered "illegal demonstrations" and "illegal gatherings", and was helping promote a "colour revolution" (i.e. peaceful, democratic regime-change).
His confession was dismissed by his family, his colleagues, and Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
, saying that it must have come under duress. Outside Iran, an international campaign to free him was headed by his wife and included petitions launched by Committee to Protect Journalists
Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...
, the Index on Censorship
Index on Censorship
Index on Censorship is a campaigning publishing organisation for freedom of expression, which produces an award-winning quarterly magazine of the same name from London. The present chief executive of Index on Censorship, since 2008, is the author, broadcaster and commentator John Kampfner, former...
, International PEN
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
, and groups of documentary filmmakers. Newsweek ran full-page advertisements in several major newspapers calling for his release. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
spoke publicly of his case.
On October 20, after 118 days in jail, Bahari was released on $300,000 bail, charged with 11 counts of espionage. He was allowed to leave the country and return to London days before the birth of his daughter.
Post-imprisonment
After his release Bahari recounted his time in prison in interviews and writings. He appeared on a segment of the television news program 60 Minutes60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
and was the subject of an article in Newsweek. Bahari stated he confessed for television after physical and psychological torture. He was held in solitary confinement, interrogated daily (either blindfolded or made to face away from his interrogator), threatened with execution, and repeatedly slapped, kicked, punched, and hit with a belt by his interogator. Bahari's interrogator told him they knew he (Bahari) "was working for four different intelligence agencies: the CIA, Mossad
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
, MI6 and Newsweek." Bahari (who vehemently denies spying on Iran) believes it was desperation to find "any evidence to prove I was a spy" that led his captors to believe his providing Jason Jones
Jason Jones (actor)
Jason Jones is a Canadian actor and comedian who is a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.-Life and career:Jones was born in Hamilton, Ontario. He attended Ryerson Theatre School in Toronto...
and his producer with a list of Iranians they could talk to in Iran, was evidence of his being a spy. (Bahari provided such a list shortly before he was interviewed by Jones,
a correspondent of The Daily Show
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
, who dressed up as a spy as a joke for the story.)
In interviews Bahari stated that his interrogator told him not to talk about what happened to him in prison, as the Revolutionary Guards have "people all around the world and they can always bring me back to Iran in a bag". Bahari has stated that he will not be able to safely return to Iran until the Islamic Republic
Islamic republic
Islamic republic is the name given to several states in the Muslim world including the Islamic Republics of Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, and Mauritania. Pakistan adopted the title under the constitution of 1956. Mauritania adopted it on 28 November 1958. Iran adopted it after the 1979 Iranian...
falls.
Campaign for other jailed Prisoners in Iran
Upon his release Bahari launched a campaign in support of other jailed journalists in Iran. The name of the campaign — Our Future Society will be a Free Society — was inspired by a quote from the leader of the Iranian revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. In an International Herald TribuneInternational Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
op-ed to launch the campaign Bahari wrote to Iran's Supreme Leader
Supreme leader
A supreme leader typically refers to a figure in the highest leadership position of an entity, group, organization, or state, who exercises strong or all-powerful authority over it. In religion, the supreme leader or supreme leaders is God or Gods...
, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, "You may feel safe in your modest house, protected by thousands of revolutionary guards. But beyond them the world is changing. Iran is changing. In 1978, as the shah was doing his best to stifle his people, Ayatollah Khomeini promised that 'in an Islamic Iran the media will have the freedom to express all Iran’s realities and events.' Hoping they could realize that promise, Iranians rose up and overthrew the shah. Ayatollah Khamenei, those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it."
Press TV vs Maziar Bahari
After his release Bahari launched a complaint against Iranian government's English satellite channel, Press TVPress TV
Press TV is a 24-hour English language global news network owned by the Iranian government. Its headquarters are located in Tehran, Iran, with bureaux in Beirut , Damascus , London , Seoul and Washington DC ....
, for filming and airing an interview with him under duress. Press TV
Press TV
Press TV is a 24-hour English language global news network owned by the Iranian government. Its headquarters are located in Tehran, Iran, with bureaux in Beirut , Damascus , London , Seoul and Washington DC ....
had interviewed several prisoners in the past, including Sakineh Ashtiani
, but had been cleared by Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
, British broadcasting regulator. In May 2011, Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
upheld Bahari's three complaints against Press TV
Press TV
Press TV is a 24-hour English language global news network owned by the Iranian government. Its headquarters are located in Tehran, Iran, with bureaux in Beirut , Damascus , London , Seoul and Washington DC ....
. In summary Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
said Press TV
Press TV
Press TV is a 24-hour English language global news network owned by the Iranian government. Its headquarters are located in Tehran, Iran, with bureaux in Beirut , Damascus , London , Seoul and Washington DC ....
's presentation of Bahari was unfair because it "omitted material facts and was placed in a context in which inferences adverse to Mr Bahari could be drawn". The media regulator also said that Press TV failed to get his consent and this "contributed to the overall unfairness to Mr Bahari in the item broadcast". Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
added that filming and broadcasting the interview without consent "while he was in a sensitive situation and vulnerable state was an unwarranted infringement of Mr Bahari's privacy".
Upon the release of Ofcom's findings, Press TV
Press TV
Press TV is a 24-hour English language global news network owned by the Iranian government. Its headquarters are located in Tehran, Iran, with bureaux in Beirut , Damascus , London , Seoul and Washington DC ....
launched a campaign against Bahari and Ofcom. Bahari was accused of being a "an MI6 contact person" taking guidance from "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, protocol #7" Press TV
Press TV
Press TV is a 24-hour English language global news network owned by the Iranian government. Its headquarters are located in Tehran, Iran, with bureaux in Beirut , Damascus , London , Seoul and Washington DC ....
called Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
's ruling "part of an anti-Iranian campaign," and that "A quick look at senior decision makers at OFCOM
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
demonstrates that the regulator is mostly made up of former Channel4 and BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
executives, some of whom are well-linked to and influenced by powerful pro-Israeli
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
politicians."
Filmography
- Paint! No Matter What, 1999 (about artist Khosrow HassanzadehKhosrow HassanzadehKhosrow Hassanzadeh is an Iranian painter. He is known for his "Terrorist" collection.Hassanzadeh lives and works in Tehran, where he works as an actor and visual artist. His work featured in many exhibitions in Europe and the Middle East. Hassanzadeh works primarily with painting, silkscreen and...
) - Of Shames and Coffins (about Aids in South Africa)
- Mohammad and the Matchmaker (about an HIV+ man's search for love in Iran)
- Football, Iranian Style (about Iranian passion for soccer)
- And Along Came a Spider (about a serial killer in Iran)
- Targets: Reporters in Iraq (about post traumatic stress disorder among journalists working in Iraq)
- Greetings from Sadr City (about life in the Baghdad suburb during the war)
- A Cult that would be an Army (about terrorist group Mujaheddin Khalgh of IranPeople's Mujahedin of IranThe People's Mujahedin of Iran is a terrorist militant organization that advocates the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran....
) - The Fall of a Shah (about the history of the Iranian RevolutionIranian RevolutionThe Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
) - An Iranian Odyssey (about the CIA-backed 1953 coup in Iran)
Then They Came for Me (Book)
Bahari has written a New York Times Best SellerBest Seller
Best Seller is a 1987 film written by Larry Cohen, directed by John Flynn and starring Brian Dennehy and James Woods. The plot concerns a career hitman, played by Woods, who wants to turn his life story into a book, to be written by Dennehy's character, a veteran police officer turned...
family memoir, Then They Came for Me
Then They Came for Me
Then They Came for Me, A Family's Story of Love, Captivity and Survival is a memoir by Iranian Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari with Aimee Molloy, that chronicles Bahari's family history, as well as his arrest and imprisonment following controversial 2009 Iran presidential election...
. The book has been called "incredible" by Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
of The Daily Show
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
who is working with Bahari on a film based on the book. Doug Saunders
Doug Saunders
Doug Saunders is a well-known British-Canadian journalist and author, a columnist and reporter for the Globe and Mail, a Canadian national newspaper based in Toronto, Canada...
of The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
called the book “Moving and, at times, very funny which offers a number of lessons about the way Middle Eastern politics work.” Leslie Scrivener of The Toronto Star explained “Then They Came for Me
Then They Came for Me
Then They Came for Me, A Family's Story of Love, Captivity and Survival is a memoir by Iranian Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari with Aimee Molloy, that chronicles Bahari's family history, as well as his arrest and imprisonment following controversial 2009 Iran presidential election...
is a gripping story that weaves his family’s history of incarceration by Iranian rulers with his own.” Mother Jones
Mother Jones (magazine)
Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
magazine said that “Then They Came for Me
Then They Came for Me
Then They Came for Me, A Family's Story of Love, Captivity and Survival is a memoir by Iranian Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari with Aimee Molloy, that chronicles Bahari's family history, as well as his arrest and imprisonment following controversial 2009 Iran presidential election...
is not only a fascinating, human exploration into Bahari's personal experience but it also provides insight into the shared experience of those affected by repressive governments everywhere.” Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus . Kirkus serves the book and literary trade sector, including libraries, publishers, literary and film agents, film and TV producers and booksellers. Kirkus Reviews is published on the first and 15th of each month...
praised the book for “Providing an illuminating glimpse into the security apparatus of one of the world’s most repressive countries. Especially timely given recent events throughout the Middle East, this book is recommended for anyone wishing to better understand the workings of a police state.”
External links
- Author profile at NewsweekNewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
- 118 Days, 12 Hours, 54 Minutes, Bahari's diary from June 21, 2009 through November 2009
- Appearances on The Daily ShowThe Daily ShowThe Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
- Maziar Bahari: Witness, 60 Minutes60 Minutes60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
on CBS NewsCBS NewsCBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
, November 22, 2009 - Maziar Bahari on Tavis SmileyTavis SmileyTavis Smiley is a talk show host, author, liberal political commentator, entrepreneur, advocate and philanthropist. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi and grew up in Kokomo, Indiana. After attending Indiana University, he worked during the late 1980s as an aide to Tom Bradley, the mayor of...
, June 15, 2011