سردبير: خودم

 يک آبروريزی ديگر که سروصدايش درنيامد

Excerpt: Ben Anderson and crew from BBC Four were detained while filming in Iran for a documentary titled "Hollidays in Axis of Evil", threatened to torture and execution, and released after a week, with thier tapes seized. It's big shame on Iranian authorities.

بی.بی.سی ورلد يک مستند تلويزيونی داشت در دو هفته‌ی گذشته به نام «تعطيلات در محور شيطانی» که در آن يک گروه کوچک با دوربين آماتوری فيلمبرداری به کشورهای سوریه، ايران، کره‌ی شمالی و فکر کنم ليبی می‌روند و از زندگی مردم فيلم می‌گيرند و اينها. مثلا قسمت اولش سوريه را نشان داد و مردمش را که بهرحال برای خارجی‌هايی که همه‌ی خاورميانه را شترسوار و بی‌سواد و نامتمدن می‌بينند، هر چه که باشد مفيد است. اما در کمال تاسف با اينکه آنها حدود دو سه روز --فکر کنم-- در سوريه بودند و کلی فيلم گرفتند و در مونتاژ نهايی هم استفاده‌اش کردند، بعد از سه روز در ايران وقتی که با يک دانشجو مصاحبه می‌کرده‌اند بازداشت شده‌اند، تمام فيلم‌هايشان را توقيف کرده‌اند و بعد از يک هفته آزادشان کرده‌اند. درست است که اینها ويزای خبرنگاری نداشتند، ولی واقعا وقتی که بعدا درباره‌ی سفرشان به ايران تعريف می‌کردند در فيلم، آدم از خجالت قرمز می‌شد. حتی به قول بن اندرسون، خبرنگار گروه، تهديد به اعدامشان کرده بودند. نتيجه‌اش يادداشتی است که درباره‌ی بخش مربوط به سفرش به ايران نوشته:

Detained and intimidated

The scariest moment was in Iran. As I was filming the trip for the BBC, I had gone with a producer and handheld DV camera, which looks much like a digi-cam a gadget-mad tourist might have.

I thought 'this is it, I'm going to be the next Terry Waite'

On the third day three guys burst in while we were talking to some students. They took us back to the hotel and turned our rooms over. When they found cameras, tapes and tourist visas, they decided that we were spies.

They took us away and locked us up. Each time I gave an answer they weren't happy with - which was pretty much every time - they threatened torture, prison, even execution once.

I had a bed, two meals a day and I didn't get beaten up. But there were regular moments when I thought 'this is it, I'm going to be the next Terry Waite'. After a week they let us go, but even as the plane sat on the tarmac, I expected to be dragged back off.

Wish you were here?
Would I want to visit these places again? If I didn't think I'd get arrested at the border, I'd love to go back to Iran. The people were incredible. One night after I'd been released but was waiting to get my passport back, I got talking to these guys in a restaurant.

One had read Nietzsche but his English wasn't great so he'd go off every five minutes to work out a line. He'd come back and say 'that which does not kill me makes me stronger' and then go off to work out another line. It was the first time I'd smiled in a week.