Middle East Focus: A Poet Detained, the Borderless Gulags of the Middle East……

Arabia Deserta

A Poet Detained, the Borderless Gulags of the Middle East……

“Iran's leading female poet barred from leaving the country. Simin Behbahani, 82, said she was about to fly to France when her passport was confiscated at Tehran airport. The human rights activist has written poems in support of the opposition campaign against disputed elections in June last year. Last week Iran detained international award winning film director Jafar Panahi and members of his family. "The moment I was due to get on the plane, a man came and took my passport away from me and said that I was banned from going abroad," she told the BBC's Persian service. They questioned her for hours asking questions and then ordered her to appear before a court, she said……………”

This banning of foreign travel is a common form of punishment not only in Iran, but in almost all the oligarchies of the Middle East as well. It is almost always the very first thing they do, instinctively. It is a sword they hold over the heads of anyone who dissents. They are telling you that only if you are s good boy or a good girl will they allow you to leave their despotic paradise.
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email