Arash’s mother never got the chance to serve the sunny-side-up eggs she made for her son before the knock on the door came. It was April 27, 2012. Three plainclothes officers of the Iranian security forces pushed their way in after producing a warrant. The men searched the house for two hours, confiscating laptops and phones. Arash’s pregnant wife returned from her morning shift at school to find her husband in custody. “Don’t worry,” the agents assured her in soft tones, “this will all be cleared up in a few hours after Arash comes down to the station for questioning.” She would not see her husband again until after their baby was born.
Ali Fatahnagar, the head of Branch 1 of the Evin Court (Special Security Branch), the man who signed Arash’s warrant, served as both judge and interrogator. Fatahnagar and his goons interrogated Arash from shortly after dinnertime until sunrise. Fatahnagar kept a terrified Arash blindfolded in the corner, answering questions in an interrogation room where the sound of electric shocks and screaming could easily be heard coming from adjacent rooms. The security forces questioned Arash about the fruits of three months of surveillance, 400 downloads from Arash’s blog, and screen captures from his Facebook post.
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