Then They Came for Me_ A Family's Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival - Maziar Bahari [130]
A few days later, Hillary Clinton appeared on Fareed Zakaria’s show GPS, on CNN. Fareed was the editor of Newsweek International. He’d been mentioning me often on his show—in fact, every chance he could get—and he took the opportunity to ask Clinton what she thought of my arrest and the staged trials going on in Iran at the time. She replied, “Well, I am just appalled at the treatment that Mr. Bahari and others are receiving. It is a show trial. There is no doubt that it demonstrates, I think, better than any of us could ever say, that this Iranian leadership is afraid of their own people, and afraid of the truth and the facts coming out. We’ve expressed our concern about Mr. Bahari’s confinement, and now the trial.”
Clinton spoke about me a few times after that as well, and her comments made diplomats around the world more aware of my ordeal. Nisid knew that they needed to continue the publicity in order to keep the story of my incarceration fresh. The only problem was that after the election, hundreds of people had been arrested. Newsweek had to find a creative way to convince people that my story was worthy of extra attention. Paola was the difference. Paola’s efforts while visibly pregnant helped make my story interesting to the international media.
On September 8, Paola agreed to give an interview to Channel 4 News at our home in London. That morning, despite being over seven months pregnant, she had rushed around town to get some medical letters regarding her condition legalized and sent to the lawyer in Iran. As she walked to the notary’s office, she regretted not having taken a taxi. The sun was streaming down and the baby had started to kick vigorously. Just as she felt about to faint, she arrived at the notary’s and collapsed onto the black leather sofa. The receptionist, who knew her well by this point, rushed to her with a glass of water. “You have to take it easy. Can’t someone else deal with all these medical letters?” she asked Paola. “Not really,” Paola replied. Barbara had already taken a week off from her job to help her and had been made to feel irresponsible by her boss afterward. Paola’s friends were at work, and the rest of her family abroad.
Paola took a taxi home. As she swept the floor and tidied all the papers to prepare the flat for the interview that evening, she resolved to slow down a little. Throughout the campaign, the baby had been the reason for her strength, but now she had to acknowledge that she felt physically drained. That evening the crew from Channel 4 News arrived. She helped them remodel the living room into a mini studio. Just as the last touches to the room were being made, the show’s host, my friend Jon Snow, arrived. They sat down opposite each other, Paola relieved to finally be off her feet. “Do you have a message for the Iranian government?” he asked as the camera rolled. “Yes: Fuck you!” Paola laughed, knowing that Jon would edit that part out.
After Jon and the crew left the flat, Paola went into the bedroom to rest. As she lay back against the pillows, she took in a sharp breath: she could feel that she’d begun bleeding heavily. She rushed to the phone and called an ambulance. A couple of minutes later, as she ran out the front door, grabbing on the way the hospital bag she had prepared for emergencies, she saw Barbara walking up the front steps. “I’m bleeding,” she said, with tears streaming down her face. “This time it’s really serious. I think I’m going to lose the baby!”
At the hospital, the doctors told Paola that she should be prepared for an emergency cesarean. Thankfully, this was not necessary. They released her after a few days, with the warning that should she start to bleed again, they would keep her in the hospital until the baby’s birth.
I was grateful to learn about the campaign, and I knew I could never thank everyone enough for what they had done for me. My family and I talked