I spent the spring of 2000 in prison. My accusation was: why were you critical of the legal system of Iran in an international conference with the foreign correspondents present, saying their legal system was intolerant of freedom? Why did you rip through the heavy veil of centuries, and why were you unfettered in expressing your thoughts?

I had said in that meeting: "Iran cannot be able to make itself compatible with the world requirement in the third millennium within the framework of the present constitution and under the domination of misogynous lifestyles." I had further added: "After 21 years of violations of human rights, Iran has no choice other than accepting reforms."

Those in Iran today "passing judgment" on others could not tolerate this forthrightness in a woman who had been writing for 33 years. They called my peaceful talk an obvious case of criminal behavior. It was according to the verdict of these judges that I stepped into the solitary confinement. When the door of the cell was closed behind me, I thought I had lost my contact forever with a world that stood at the threshold of the third millennium.

I underwent inquisition for hours on end in the spring of 2000. I was tried at the age of 57 for an article I had written when I was 24, when I had criticized gender limitations and prejudices imposed on women. I was released on heavy bail.

Sick and tired, I returned to my family and my professional life. I soon realized that those "passing judgment" in Iran today were not ready to tolerate my feminine consciousness in the realm of thinking, and they were determined to break the female conscience, which had achieved even better awareness through the experience of prison and inquisition. This is what they did. When they could not stand world pressure, the struggle of all PEN Centers, the press and other media, and when they were forced into permitting me to leave Iran to continue treatment abroad, they outwitted themselves by another trick. They didn't want that female conscience that had slipped through their grips and once more could write and speak of freedom, to return to her natural and cultural life, resuming activity in her own country.

When I was hospitalized in the United States, I heard the news that my seventy-one year old husband had been abducted and taken to an unknown prison. This was eight months ago. His legal case is shrouded in ambiguity. However, one thing is quite clear:

"Siamak Pourzand is physically and spiritually in a bad shape. He has been tortured and confessions have been extracted from him against his will. He is under physical and psychological pressure now to agree to a television interview, making allegations against himself and against others. They have destroyed his identity. Consequently, they have destroyed my chances of returning to Iran and resuming cultural activities which are my natural rights. They have opened these two cases, with one aim in mind: the silencing of a family in which the wife has tried to defend the rights of women living under oppression, by using every opportunity to break the silence of these women, and by writing and reporting about their conditions. And she has done this for 33 years as a writer and journalist, and for 20 years as attorney of law. To silence me, they have trapped my husband, the father of my children. But they have made a mistake. The struggle for the promotion of the situation of women to the human standard they deserve more than ever, will go on. Women will no longer tolerate silence and oppression.

Mehrangiz Kar, June 25, 2002