WASHINGTON—The Woodrow Wilson Center remains emphatic that the recently broadcast video programs depicting alleged ‘confessions’ from Iranian-American detainees Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh are scripted, contrived, and completely without merit. In the video, both Esfandiari and Tajbakhsh are shown wearing civilian clothing, and in a domestic setting, when in reality both are being held captive in Tehran’s Evin prison, an institution notorious for its flagrant abuse of human rights. To date, Esfandiari, director of the Center’s Middle East Program, has not been allowed access to her lawyers, families, or friends.
“The appearances Haleh Esfandiari was forced to make on Iranian state TV earlier this week have taken the fabrication of news to a new art form,” said Lee H. Hamilton, president and director of the Woodrow Wilson Center. “In the two segments Iranian TV produced as well as in the clips aired earlier advertising the two-part series, it is clear that statements were rehearsed again and again and that her comments were cobbled and spliced together. This is shameful. It cannot be considered a ‘confession’ by any stretch of the imagination. Haleh’s tireless efforts to promote dialogue, to give women a voice, and to seek greater US-Iranian understanding are only a threat to those who are closed minded. Having had this charade on Iranian TV, it is time to release Haleh and the other detained Iranian-Americans.”
Esfandiari has been held in Evin prison since May 8th on charges of acting against Iran’s national security. She has seen no one from outside the prison during this time: not her mother, not her family, not her lawyer, and not the ICRC or any independent international body.
For up-to-date information regarding the situation of Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, please visit the Wilson Center’s media update center at www.wilsoncenter.org/halehnews. To get involved in the campaign to free Haleh, go to www.freehaleh.org. Media with questions may reach Sharon McCarter at (202) 691-4016 or sharon.mccarter@wilsoncenter.org.
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is the living, national memorial to President Wilson established by Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Center establishes and maintains a neutral forum for free, open, and informed dialogue. It is a nonpartisan institution, supported by public and private funds and engaged in the study of national and world affairs.
