"A Terrifying and deeply moving account of a man and a country still brutalized by the politics of fear." Clive Stafford Smith, Director of Reprieve and author of Bad Men: Guantanamo Bay and
the secret prisons
"This remarkable, humane story of abuse and survival across Iranian regimes told by Ayatollah Khamenei's former cellmate deserves a global audience, to understand the meaning of cruelty and the
reality of modern, tragic, brutal Iran." Philippe Sands, author of Torture Team
"A scathing indictment of torture and a testament to survival against all odds. It is the revenge of truth and a past revealed but not yet healed." Michael Henderson, author of No Enemy to
Conquier: Forgiveness in an Unforgiving World
"With moving stories about fellow prisoners, biting commentary on the religious dictates imposed by his jailers, and meditations on the soul destroying effect of false confessions and the
special cruelty of his ideological authoritarian interrogators Asadi's simple prose attracts even as the facts reports repel...A horrifying glimpse of the decade long nightmare still afflicting
the people of Iran." Kirkus
A journalist, writer, and translator, Houshang Asadi was a member of both the Writers' Association of Iran and the Iranian Journalists' Syndicate, and the co founder of the Association of
Iranian Film Critics and Script Writers. Prior to the Islamic Revolution he served for many years as Deputy Editor at Kayhan, Iran's largest daily newspaper, and was for 12 years the Editor in
Chief of the country's largest circulation film magazine, Gozaresh. He is the author of several novels, plays, and film scripts, and has translated into Persian important works by Gabriel
Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, and T.S. Eliot.
In 1983, following the Iranian government's crackdown on all opposition parties, Asadi was arrested and sent to the infamous Moshtarek prison in Tehran. He was kept in solitary confinement for
almost 2 years, during which time he was severely tortured until he falsely confessed to operating as a spy for the British and Russian intelligence agencies. His sentence was death by hanging.
In the end this was reduced to is years imprisonment. He was freed after serving 6 years and eventually escaped Iran in 2003. He now lives in exile in Paris with his wife, where he co founded
the influential Persian language news website Rooz Online.
Pushed blindfolded into an unmarked car, promininent Iranian journalist Houshang Asadi was convinced there had been a mistake. As a political activist during the Shah's rule, being arrested was
a frequent inconvenience, but as a_ supporter of the Islamic Revolution he expected things to be different. After all, he considered himself a close friend of Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran's current
Supreme Leader, With whom he had shared a cramped prison cell in the early 1970's.
But he was wrong For over two years he was kept in solitary confinement in one of the most infamous prisons in Tehran, suffering inhuman degradations and brutal, mindless torture at the hands
of a man who introduced himself as 'Brother Hamid: A man without whose permission he couldn't eat, sleep, receive medical care, or go to the toilet. A man who knew no limits when it came to
extracting 'confessions': suspended from the ceiling, beaten, and forced to bark like a dog, Asadi became a spy for the Russians, for the British 羶 for anyone.
Narrowly escaping execution as the government unleashed a bloody pogrom against political prisoners that left thousands dead, he was hauled before a sham court and sentenced to fifteen years.
In exile, tormented by nightmares and flashbacks, Asadi's first attempt at recording his experiences resulted in a heart attack. Here at last he confronts his torturer one last time, speaking
for those whose voices will never be heard, and provides a chilling glimpse into the heart of Iran and the practice of state sponsored justice.
