The 53-year-old Iranian translator Ahmad Miralai was reportedly detained by security forces on 24 October 1995 and taken to a hotel for questioning. A few hours later, his body was found in Isfahan. A half empty bottle and cigarettes were said to be lying beside his body, which had injection marks in it (see IFEX […]
The 53-year-old Iranian translator Ahmad Miralai was reportedly detained by security forces on 24 October 1995 and taken to a hotel for questioning. A few hours later, his body was found in Isfahan. A half empty bottle and cigarettes were said to be lying beside his body, which had injection marks in it (see IFEX alert of 30 November 1995).
Background Information
**For background to Miralai case, see IFEX alert of 30 November 1995; Saidi Sirjani case, see IFEX alerts of 2 December, 30 November, 28 April and 14 March 1994; Dibadj and Michaelian case, see IFEX alert of 7 July 1994**
The government initially claimed he had died of a stroke and later said it was a heart attack, but his family and friends believe his death is linked to his arrest. Miralai had reportedly given up drinking and smoking long before his death. There are suspicions that attempts were made to make it appear that Miralai had been drinking in order to discredit him.
Miralai, who was one of the 134 writers who signed a petition in
October 1994 calling for greater freedom of expression, had
reportedly been called for interrogation by security forces in
Tehran and Isfahan on at least 20 occasions in the few months
before his death.
There are suspicions that the injection marks on his arms either signal attempts to revive him or, more sinisterly, it is claimed that alcohol may have been injected into his body to make it appear he died after a drinking session.
Born in Isfahan in 1942, Miralai was the first translator of works of Octavio Paz, V.S. Naipul, Milan Kundera and Jorge Luis Borges into Persian. He also translated Joseph Conrad, Graham Greene and Lawrence Durrell.
Miralai studied literature at Isfahan University and did a master’s degree in literature at Leeds University in England. He then became involved with the literary magazine “Jong- e Esfahan” and began translating. His work took him all over the world.
For example, between 1976 and 1980 he was in charge of the Iranian Cultural Centre in Karachi and New Delhi. He helped set up the Zendeh-Rood publishing house in the early 1990s and set up a bookshop in Isfahan. He also lectured on a casual basis at universities in Iran and Pakistan. Miralai was
married with four daughters. He had wanted to translate
Shakespeare’s collected works into Farsi, but his early and
suspicious death meant that he was unable to achieve that
ambition.
Miralai’s suspicious death is not the first in Iran in recent
years. Ali-Akbar Saidi Sirjani died in prison on 27 November 1994.
He was detained by agents of the Anti-Vice Department of the
Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office on 14 March 1994 in Tehran.
He had been openly critical of policies encouraging censorship in
Iran and there had been a campaign against him in the hardline
press.
He was accused by the director-general of national security at the Iranian intelligence ministry of using drugs, making alcoholic drinks, taking part in homosexual acts, having links with espionage networks and receiving money from counter-revolutionary circles in the West. All these charges carry the death penalty. A “confession” letter, reportedly signed by Sirjani, was published in a hardline newspaper in June 1994. The government said he died of a heart attack in prison (see IFEX alerts of 2 December, 30 November, 28 April and 14 March 1994).
Christian pastor and writer the Reverend Mehdi Dibadj was
imprisoned in 1984 and sentenced to death for apostasy because he converted to Christianity from Islam. He was released from prison in January 1994 after a huge campaign on his behalf, but died in mysterious circumstances in June 1994.
A few days later, the Reverend Tatavous Michaelian, a Christian translator who had campaigned for Dibadj, was also found dead in mysterious circumstances (see IFEX alert of 7 July 1994).
In recent months, a programme denouncing writers in and outside of Iran has appeared on state television. “The Identity” presents allegations against writers and intellectuals. Writers fear the programme is preparing the ground for further arrests. Some writers have reportedly been approached by the security forces and threatened that aspects of their private lives will be exposed if they speak out about issues related to censorship.
In August 1996, several prominent Iranian writers went to a dinner given by the German cultural attache. The dinner was interrupted by security forces with television cameras. They reportedly separated out the Iranian writers from the other guests and filmed them. The German attache complained about the incident and was eventually offered an official apology.
Some writers have been prevented from travelling abroad in the last two months and others have been briefly detained. A climate of fear reigns among writers in Iran.
On 8 September 1996, several writers were briefly detained in
Tehran and taken to Evin prison. The detention occurred after a meeting to discuss the re-formation of a writers’ association.
The writers were blindfolded and told to fill in a questionnaire.
They were reportedly warned not to hold further meetings or publish the writers’ association charter. Iranian writers living abroad have had their books withdrawn in Iran in recent months and their publishers have been reportedly threatened.
An extract from “Esfahan, my Esfahan”, written by Ahmad Miralai and published in edition No.35-36 of “Kelk”, a monthly review of art and culture published in Tehran, follows this alert.
Recommended Action:
Send appeals to authorities below:
calling for an independent investigation into the death of the
translator Ahmad Miralai and asking that the results be made
public
also calling for the release of all writers detained in Iran and
for guarantees that writers will not face intimidation, attack or
arrest due to the peaceful expression of their views
Appeals To
His Excellency Hujjatol Islam Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
The Presidency
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Azerbaidjan Intersection
Tehran, Iran
fax care of the Iranian diplomatic representative to your country
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75116 Paris, France
Fax: +33 1 40 70 01 57
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Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran
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Fax: +1 613 232 5712
Please copy appeals to the originator if possible.
Background Information:
Extract from “Esfahan, my Esfahan”, written by Ahmad Miralai and published in edition No.35-36 of “Kelk”, a monthly review of art and culture published in Tehran:
“What can I say about Esfahan that has not been said by others? To avoid repetition, I will talk about myself, blending Esfahan and the Esfahani, so that by talking about myself I also describe Esfahan. Now, in my late forties, I linger under the arches of `Si-o-se Pol’ (the Bridge of Thirty-Three Arches). I am staring at the foaming waves of Zayandeh Rood. In my mind, this water merges with all the other rivers in the world, some of which I have seen and others that I only imagine. How long has it taken me to reach this stage? How many rivers have I seen?
“Nearly thirty years ago, when I was leaving Esfahan to see (or
possibly to conquer) the world, I did not think that I would
return to this city. The last images that remained in my mind were my father’s worried eyes and the blue dome with its twelve sections which I could see from the window of the small airplane.
“After a few months in the West, in a city under a clouded sky, I became entangled in an inevitable identity crisis. Who was I? What was I doing in the West? Among the other Iranian students, there were a few Esfahanis and mingling with them was the solution to this problem. Gradually, I became an Esfahani again, I acquired an Esfahani accent and, unconsciously, I insisted on this identity. Any river I walked along became Zayandeh Rood. How many rivers have I seen?
“I saw the Tigris and the palm groves of Kufa, sailing on river
boats and tasting Pepsi Cola for the first time at the age of
fourteen. I saw Arvand Rood and fell into its waters while I was
getting off a boat in Khorramshahr. I watched a cremation ceremony in Old Delhi and Jumna’s torrential waves. In Hyderabad, I thought of how King Jalal-ud-din Kharazmshah had crossed the waters of the Indus on horseback while being pursued by Mongol invaders. I can remember the river Seine, the tourist boats and the young people in love.
“I can also remember the grey waters of the Tiber in Rome and the hustle and bustle of the City in London. Yes…the Tiber and the liveliness and naughtiness of the eternal city of Rome. I can remember Rio della Plata (the river Plate) and Borges, the
Danube and Milan Kundera, Alexandria and Ptolemy, the Nile and….
“A single city can become the whole world for you if it contains
someone or something you love. Later on, whenever I walked along the back alleys of Buenos Aires guided by the blind Borges, whenever I strolled along the river Plate, or whenever Borges talked about his Buenos Aires, I changed the names in my mind and pretended I was walking in the Esfahan of my childhood. The same was true when I was in the Alexandria of E.M. Forster or in the Prague of Milan Kundera.”
