Then They Came for Me_ A Family's Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival - Maziar Bahari [129]
From that day onward, Nisid relinquished almost all of his day-to-day editing duties and committed himself to leading the effort to free me. On the other side of the Atlantic, Chris Dickey, Newsweek’s Paris bureau chief and Middle East editor, took the train to London to meet Paola and offer his support. Chris had brought me to Newsweek. He knew Iran as well as anybody and was able to offer Nisid sage advice on every decision. Their first task was to find out where I was and who had taken me. Information started to come in from different sources, many of whom had friends inside the Iranian government. However, when the Revolutionary Guards took over much of the government, the rules of the game changed. Many people inside the government itself did not know anything about my situation and were unknowingly misled into passing on false information.
From time to time, news of my whereabouts and imminent release would seep through from some seemingly dependable source to Nisid and Chris. At the beginning, they would call Paola and they’d all privately rejoice. But then days would pass with no further news. Chris and Nisid chided themselves for having been so credulous and, in particular, for having given Paola false hope.
Paola, meanwhile, hid from them her utter despair—a despair that seemed to emanate from the deepest part within her. She imagined the baby inside her to be at the epicenter of the turmoil, and as she watched her body shake uncontrollably, she was racked with guilt. She was grateful that her twin sister, Barbara, was there. Barbara always knew what to say and the right tone to take. This time she was firm and matter-of-fact: “Paola, be strong for the baby. That’s what Maziar wants.” And with those words, Paola’s body stopped shaking. She picked herself up and got back to work.
From the beginning, Newsweek ensured that the news of my arrest would go viral. The arrest of an innocent journalist hit a nerve among thousands of people around the world. Paola was inundated with messages from people who knew me, even former school friends from many years ago. They started websites and Facebook pages and worked with Paola and Newsweek to disseminate petitions for my release across the world. Night after night, as I sat in that prison cell, designing crossword puzzles and playing miniature basketball and thinking that I’d perhaps been forgotten, my friends and colleagues were working tirelessly for my release.
On the diplomatic level, Nisid knew that he had to allow Canada to lead the governmental efforts to obtain my release, since I was a Canadian citizen. But the Canadian government, being the Canadian government, was not as aggressive and persistent in its approach as Nisid and the others would have liked. When it comes to human-rights abuses, the Canadian government has always taken the lead in condemning the Iranian government, but its officials use bureaucratic tactics and follow very strict protocols.
The Iranian government, meanwhile, was caught off guard by the attention paid to my arrest. The Revolutionary Guards did not explain its reasons for arresting me to the other branches of the government, and made sure that the rest of the government understood that my arrest and the arrest of others taken by the Guards was no one else’s business. Iranian diplomats felt powerless. Many of them were ashamed of their government, but they feared dismissal and arrest, and had to continue to work to make a living. Of course, they could not say that to Newsweek, so they pretended to be in the know about my situation. In this way, many encouraging but false pieces of information were passed on to Newsweek and Paola.
As the weeks passed with no solid information about my status, everybody grew increasingly worried, and very impatient. They waited and waited for good news, but none came. Meanwhile, in late July, Nisid learned from sources in Iran that officials from the Guards were saying that Newsweek’s