VO IRAN – A MURDER MYSTERY (WORLDWIDE VERSION) This is the story of a woman who returned to her homeland- after nearly 30 years in exile. What the photojournalist Zahra Kazemi discovered was a country at war with itself. And it would cost her more than she could ever have imagined. Her story was to shine a spotlight into the darker corners of one of the world’s most complex and secretive regimes. [TITLE CARD – IRAN: A MURDER MYSTERY] VO 01.17 For ten nights last summer – protests rocked Iran. Thousands of people took to the streets– defying the government. 01.30 The regime tried hard to stop the outside world witnessing what was going on. Thousands were arrested and many were sent to Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. It was into this turbulent scene that Zahra Kazemi entered. VO 02.10 Zahra was born in Shiraz, in southern Iran in 1949. 02.22 Her life reveals the story of modern Iran. 02.32 As an only child she and her parents Keramet and Ezet were a tight knit family. Synch Mahvash Dashti , Friend She had lots of energy, she was full of life, always happy, always had a smile. She always laughing on everything make everything funny and I had a good time. And eh she was very passionate person and eh, but whatever she want to do, she was going after it and make it happen. VO 03.06 The Iran that Zahra and Mahvash grew up in was ruled by the Shah. 03.22 They were comfortably off. Life seemed free and easy. 03.26 Many looked to Europe for their styles and fashions. 03.33 In 1969, Mahvash and Zahra, now known as Ziba to her family and friends, started at film school. 03.41 They struck up a friendship with a fellow student, Mohammad Shahrokni. 03.51 Mohammad now lives in exile in California SYNCH: MOHAMMAD SHAHROKNI ZAHRA’s FRIEND As I remember we were really happy men and women, we worked together we were free to express ourself um, especially we that um work for television. As I was free to express my opinion to make any film that I want to do, I want to make, so I know that Ziba also had the same opportunity like me so she was happy at that time. VO 04.21 At Film School in Tehran Zahra began to develop a passion for photography. But in 1974 when Zahra was working for state television, life in Iran took a turn for the worse. 04.42 The Shah, determined to tighten his grip on power , banned every political party except his own. For Zahra things would never be the same again ARCHIVE SYNC LORD CHALFONT 04.45 Do you foresee a time when eh you when Iran might return to a multi party system. ARCHIVE SYNC SHAH OF IRAN It all will depend on the will of the people finally. VO But the Shah had little interest in the will of the people. 05.18 He told those who didn’t want to join his party that they could leave the country. 05.26 His secret police were ruthless. Political prisoners were tortured. And some executed. 05.35 Friends say Zahra felt uneasy in the new climate. She left for France. VO 05.47 And watched from Paris as discontent grew under the Shah. Poverty was widespread. Repression, the Shah’s pro- American policies and his hedonistic lifestyle had alienated whole sections of the population. 06.13 The country was ripe for revolution. 06.26 Hopes were pinned on this man – an exiled cleric - Ayatollah Khomeini. 06.34 In 1979 the Ayatollah returned to a hero’s welcome. An Islamic state was about to be born. ARCHIVE - AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI The man himself stood calmly in the shadows, waiting for the songs of welcome and the prayers to finish before taking his turn to speak. His first words were as expected forceful and to the point… “This is the first step in the final defeat of 50 years of criminal rule – we must cut off the hands of the foreigners who are responsible for our ills and caste out all the roots of the old regime.” VO Gradually it became clear that one authoritarian regime was being replaced by another. IV MOHAMMED 07.43 After one year I said oh my god we have again the same situation, the same story. Everything is wrong, everything is wrong. VO 07.58 The Ayatollah, made himself supreme leader – his word beyond challenge. 08.12 Zahra’s mother, Mahvash and all Iranian women were forced to wear the veil. 08.22 Parliament could do nothing without the say-so of a watchdog body of appointed clerics. 08.37 In Paris, Zahra’s life was not much better. 08.41 Her husband had left her. 08.45 Struggling and increasingly unhappy, she ran a bookshop to support herself and her young child.. SYNCH MAHVASH 08.53 I was very surprised she only had one kid. She loves children and always worked with them. 09.08 By the time Ayatollah Khomeini fell ill and died in 1989, Iran was firmly under the clerics’ control. 09.34 The mass outpouring of grief at Khomeini’s funeral was a sure sign for Zahra that her homeland had become a foreign country. SYNCH STEPHAN HACHEMI ZAHRA’s son 09.55 My mother never put on me the tragedy of her country…this drama she was living with. Her parents were thousands of km away in a terrorist regime when she was with her child in a country in exile. VO 10.23 Zahra – with her son Stephan – now a teenager, headed even further West – to Montreal, Canada. IV STEPHAN 10.33 She has been fully welcome here eh I remember this day she was coming from the council or the embassy and you know we were more, more than welcome. 10.50 My mother always said that she was Canadian, she never said I'm Iranian. VO 11.03 Zahra threw herself back into photography. IV ANNE DANIS 11.10 I first met Zahra as her teacher. She really worked very hard to get what she wanted. She really wanted to master her technique, she wanted to be independent in the studio, she wanted to achieve things and to have the confidence in herself. 11.45 Zahra’s photographs had a particular richness, they were incredible, because first of all, she was more mature than the other students. She started out with a background which the others didn’t have. VO 12.23 Zahra started to travel the world on assignments. She was a strong and independent woman, drawn to troubled countries. She was passionate about human rights and people living in the shadow of war. IV STEPHAN 12.44 One of the trips she did in Palestine and Israel eh was quite dangerous . sometimes she visited rocks you know and, and sometime the ambulance saved her life, some time. One time she has been arrested in, in Turkey and um she had a few, a few problems with authorities. These circumstances really made me understand the price she was really to, ready to pay to, to contribute and to do her work. SYNCH MAHVASH 13.11 She had no fear, she was, she had no fear she always been very brave um. Even when she was going to Africa I, I ask her this Ziba you know how much hard it's there to go as a woman and for, she says she don't mind, and she don't care, she just want to go and picture them. VO 13.51 Back in Iran with their new supreme leader - Ayatollah Khamene’i, the hardline clerics were facing growing demands for change. 14.06 Presidential elections in 1997 produced a surprise. 14.14 Convinced they would win the hardliners allowed a contest between their candidate and a little known reformist. 14.22 His name was Mohammed Khatami . 14.29 He won the election by a landslide. IV MOHAMMAD 14.36 After eh Mr Khatami became president I watching very carefully and, and very closely. In my opinion, at that time I was very optimistic for, for the future because of his promises. VO 14.59 And the atmosphere did change; freedom was in the air. Khatami and the reformists wanted transparency, accountability, and reforms to the arbitrary justice system. 15.09 But their efforts to enact change were constantly blocked by the unelected hardliners. 15.16 This deadlock between the reformists, symbolised by President Khatami, and the hard-liners whose loyalty is to the Supreme Leader, produced mounting frustration - not just for the reformists, but for the millions who elected them. 15.52 Tensions flared: street protests triggered bouts of violence as hard-line regime forces ruthlessly suppressed dissent. VO It was against this back-drop that Zahra decided to return to Iran last summer. She planned to use her homeland as a base for assignments in the wider region. IV STEPHAN 16.34 I thought she's gonna go and something's gonna happen and I'm gonna get so much hurt you know, so much, I mean it's gonna hurt me a lot. But what I did at the end is that I, I just supported her eh as fully as possible I helped her in, in the preparation of her trip and um. and I was just waiting for her to come back. VO 17.07 But what happened in Tehran on June the 10th made Zahra decide to stay. 17.22 Campus protests against government plans to privatise university education spilled over onto the streets. Thousands of ordinary people risked beating and arrest to vent their frustration against the system. 17.42 Iran’s enemies hoped the cauldron was boiling over. ARCHIVE PRESIDENT BUSH Freedom is a, is a, is a, is a powerful drive eh for people to eh, and, and then this is beginnings of people expressing themselves toward a free, free Iran, which I think is positive. VO 18.06 The disturbances went on for ten nights. 18.09 They weren’t a serious threat to the regime but with President Bush openly encouraging dissent the authorities became paranoid about who was behind the protests. 18.25 All the tension and drama spelt opportunity for Zahra Kazemi . IV STEPHAN 18.39 She wrote me again from Iran and she said yeah these um some, some, there's good things going on good subject of eh work for me. VO 18.42 On the 23rd of June Zahra got a work permit. and set out to cover a vigil by families of prisoners outside Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. Many of the thousands who’d been arrested during the disturbances were taken there. 19.17 To Iranians, Evin is a symbol of fear. During the 1980s, thousands of regime opponents were tortured and systematically liquidated within its walls. IV SHOKOUFEH 19.37 Your hands and feet are tied down and they, they start to beat the, on the sole of your feet with eh thick cables. And they have other things hanging you this and that, hanging you upside down, hanging you with you hands being um, tied behind your back. VO Shokoufeh, now in exile, was in Evin during the worst of the repression in the 80’s. At that time torture was routine. SYNCH SHOKOUFEH 20.11 I was a student um and I was part of the mass arrest that they were doing then, was fourteen fifteen year old. Officially they gave me a five year sentence um but actually they kept me for eight years. VO 20.34 Outside Evin, Zahra had started working. She had ignored a sign stating “No Photos”. Within minutes she had been detained. IV MOJTAHEDI 21.08 She was confronted by eh authorities eh on sight, asked to eh give eh the camera and the film, she eh resisted. VO 21.19 Zahra fought back. At 5.40pm she was taken inside. IV MOJTAHEDI She then entered into an altercation with the authorities on site. At that point she was arrested VO Hamid Mojtahedi is a Canadian human rights lawyer who had privileged access to officials in the case. 21.40 With his help, and drawing on official reports and information from sources, we’ve tried to piece together what happened when Zahra Kazemi disappeared into Evin. It hasn’t been easy. Most officials have refused to speak. Iranian journalists have been warned off the story. The case became highly politicised, making it even harder to get at the truth of what really happened. VO 22.14 When Zahra was first challenged , she was told to leave her camera. She could collect it the following day. But she refused and ripped the film out to expose it. It was a defiant gesture that meant she would be kept in prison. 22.38 At 10.30 that night she was interrogated for nearly 4 hours by officials from the judiciary. The judiciary is a bastion of the hardliners ultimately loyal to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamene’i. SYNCH SHOKOUFEH 22.59 So she was completely alone – and they thought this was the perfect case. She was alone and she was a woman, she didn't have any connection to either big news agency or the internal media. VO 23.16 The judiciary hardliners accused Zahra of being a spy. IV MOJTAHEDI 23.22 Essentially the important point here is that the issue of espionage eh was very much alive from the early hours of her arrest. CAPTION – 23RD JUNE – FIRST INTERROGATION SESSION 10.25PM UNTIL 2.30 AM VO 23.33 A confession to spying would have served the hardliners well in their battle to discredit those pushing for change. It was of particular interest to Tehran’s General Prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi. 23.53 He is notorious for closing down scores of pro-reform newspapers and jailing journalists. He personally attended Zahra’s interrogation. SYNCH MOJTAHEDI 24.17 When I met with him I confronted him on this very issue, I said well eh as a prosecutor general eh it was not your function to meet with her eh in person, and who's response was quite dismissive and he said well I happened to be there checking on somebody else and I poked by head in to se how things are going eh. Well in fact eh it is not true, he took a, a personal interest um, eh, in the case he got personally involved and he's a stakeholder in all of this. CAPTION 25TH OF JUNE – 3RD DAY IN EVIN VO 24.51 On June the 25th Zahra was taken back for another four hours with the hardline judiciary. Prosecutor Mortazavi is alleged to have rung the official who gave Zahra her work permit. He told him that Zahra had confessed to spying. 25.09 The official later said that Mortazavi accused him of being Zahra’s accomplice. 25.33 That evening Zahra was sent to a rival authority in the Evin complex – the Intelligence Ministry. Unlike the judiciary, its under the control of the reformists. 25.47 Zahra had entered the parallel universes of Iran’s divided power structure- as evident in side Evin, as it is outside. CAPTION JUNE 26 – 4th DAY IN EVIN VO 26.06 For much of the fourth day she was questioned by the intelligence officials. At 4.30pm a routine medical examination by their doctor reported nothing amiss. 26.21 But an hour later she’d fallen ill. IV MOJTAHEDI 26.26 She eh, was reportedly not feeling very well she eh was very faint eh, eh, she was eh attended to by eh some of the nurses that were on duty in the Evin prison. VO 26.44 By 8.40 that night, she was bleeding from the nose and coughing up blood. VO 27.45 Just after midnight, she was admitted to hospital. The medical papers with her said she had “intestinal problems”. CAPTION – 27TH JUNE – FIRST DAY IN HOSPITAL VO 27.15 One witness- who we cannot name - said she saw Zahra at the hospital and had access to her medical records. 27.24 She described what she’d heard about Zahra’s arrival, brought in by prison guards who stayed with her. SYNCH ANON WITNESS 27.35 “Zahra arrived shrouded in a blanket. The people with her wouldn’t even allow the doctors to see her face. She was obviously conscious she could respond to questions by blinking but her eyes had a look of shock in them – everyone who saw those eyes was distressed. VO 28.01 Our source says doctors were prevented from giving Zahra the treatment she desperately needed. SYNCH ANON WITNESS 28.10 “The doctors did order a brain scan several times but it wasn’t carried out until 12 hours later, when she was already in a coma. In a situation like that every second is vital.” VO 28.15 When it was finally done, the brain scan appeared to tell a chilling story SYNCH ANON WITNESS 28.36 The scan showed that there were repeated blows of varying intensity. It showed that her head had been hit very hard, causing severe brain damage and bleeding. 28.51 Another source who saw the hospital report said it raised the possibility that the fatal blow had been struck several days before Zahra collapsed. VO 29.02 For 8 days none of Zahra’s friends or family knew where she was or what had happened to her. CAPTION – 5TH JULY – 9TH DAY IN HOSPITAL VO 29.25 Back in Shiraz, Zahra’s mother finally heard of her situation when a friend called from Tehran. SYNCH – MRS KAZEMI 29.37 One of Ziba’s friends called me….. and said Ziba is in jail. I was told to bring the deeds of the house, as bail for Ziba. I just telephoned my nephew and asked him to get me a ticket so I could find out what’s happening in Tehran. CAPTION – 6th JULY – 10th DAY IN HOSPITAL VO 30.07 Mrs Kazemi flew to Tehran and went straight to Evin prison, thinking Zahra was still there. IV MRS KAZEMI Right away we went to Evin and they wasted our time until 2 in the afternoon. They didn’t even give us a chair to sit down. I picked up a chair and sat on it and the guard came and took it back…..at 2 they gave me her camera and release papers and I went with my friends to Baghiat-ullah hospital. VO 30.30 At first she wasn’t allowed into Zahra’s room. IV MRS KAZEMI 30.40 When I went to the hospital I saw her. I saw a very beautiful woman sleeping there – she was like the moonlight. They’d put a tube in her mouth because she couldn’t breathe from here (gestures) - and she was breathing from down here (gestures). There was a chair – I picked it up and hit my head with it. My eye was damaged and started bleeding. VO 31.15 When she was finally admitted, she was horrified by what she saw. IV MRS KAZEMI 31.28 …. I saw they’d shaved her hair…. And pulled over some of the rest of her hair to cover the injury. They’d put a scarf on her head so I couldn’t see. I asked the nurse to raise her head up and as soon as she took her hand away her head fell back lifeless. 32.16 I asked the nurse to pull away the sheet. They’d beaten her up so badly her body was black and blue all over. And she had an injury here (gestures) and another here (gestures). CAPTION – 7TH JULY – 11TH DAY IN HOSPITAL VO Mrs Kazemi alerted the Canadian Embassy about her daughter’s condition. IV PHILIP MACKINNON 32.43 What we did of course is we eh insisted upon seeing her, we were allowed to go to the hospital and to see her, she was in intensive care eh obviously in a coma and they were not allowed in the intensive care ward but they were allowed to see her. So clearly right from the very first eh, once we recognised her, that she had been arrested and two that she had ended up in hospital, quite clearly um our first thought was that eh something had happened eh not an accident. VO 39.14 14 days had passed since Zahra had first disappeared. 33.20 Now her case hit the headlines. ARCHIVE – CBC news presenter : 33.31 Family and friends of this woman are waiting tonight for any word of her condition. Zahra Kazemi is a freelance photo journalist from Montreal, she was arrested while working in Iran more than two weeks ago. IV MAHVASH It was awful even it's like a bad dream still I cannot believe it something like this can happen in this century. It's awful that happen in my homeland. VO 33.55 As Zahra lay in a coma, her mother came everyday and sat by her side. CAPTION – 11th JULY – 15th DAY IN HOSPITAL VO On the 11th of July, she visited again. IV MRS KAZEMI 34.16 We went to see her and she wasn’t in her normal room. We went downstairs and the head nurse looked very sad and upset. The moment we arrived she went into another room. VO 34.37 The day before- someone had turned off the life support machine. No one had asked her mother. Her son Stephan had not been consulted. 34.51 No one had informed the Embassy. IV MRS KAZEMI 35.12 My child was healthy when they took her to Evin and they gave me back her lifeless body…. If she wasn’t allowed to take photographs why did they give her permission? If they gave her permission and they took her healthy body why did they give me back her lifeless body? VO 35.40 As Canadians held vigils for Zahra, the Iranian official in charge of the Foreign Press announced that she’d died of a stroke. VO 35.56 Stephan didn’t believe the story and – with his grandmother’s full support - demanded that his mother’s body be returned to Canada for an autopsy and burial. IV STEPHAN 36.08 Her life was here in Canada. And there is no reason why she should, she should stay in Iran um. They all know I strongly loudly eh asked for my mother remains to be brought back in Canada. IV PHILIP MACKINNON 36.25 Mrs Kazemi senior eh indicated the same interest and she so in, so indicated in writing. And it was with that, that we eh again went back to Iranian authorities indicating that we were, we do believe that the body should be buried in Canada, in accordance with the wishes of the family. VO 36.48 The Canadians’ suspicions were re-inforced, when the official who’d announced that Zahra died of a stroke, later said he’d been pressured into saying that by Prosecutor Mortazavi. 37.07 President Khatami hadn’t believed the story either. He’d already ordered four of his ministers to conduct an urgent investigation. 37.16 Zahra’s death had become a huge political issue. IV MR ABTAHI 37.25 In the case of Zahra Kazemi, there was an international dimension as well. The president took the investigations very seriously. He believed that especially in this case, investigations should be followed with a certain sensitivity. As the reputation, respect and personality of Iranians was also being called into question. VO 37.48 Just three days after the investigation began President Khatami’s Vice President dropped a bombshell- putting paid to the fabricated story of the stroke once and for all. IV MR ABTAHI 38.14 Basically I heard from the government that Mrs Kazemi had been killed as a result of a brain haemorrhage due to a blow on the head. It was a shocking piece of news. VO 38.35 But who had dealt the fatal blow? Did it happen when she was with the hardline judiciary or later when she was with the reformist intelligence ministry. Zahra’s death now inflamed the bitter struggle between the two factions battling for control of Iran. 39.01 The Presidential report could only narrow the timing down to a 2 day period when she’d been passed between the two rival authorities The way to pinpoint the timing of the blow was the independent autopsy that Stephan wanted. But forces were at work to ensure this wouldn’t happen. IV MRS KAZEMI 39.32 …..they forced me to give permission to bury the body, and said if you don’t give permission to bury the body in Iran we will harm you, and we’ll harm Stephan as well. They said…. we have to bury her here at any cost. VO 40.08 Mrs Kazemi is too afraid to say who it was who pressured her. IV STEPHAN 40.16 My grandmother had armed, armed men coming every day to see her, to say sign this letter, anyway we're not gonna, we're not go, the body's gonna stay here you know sign, sign this paper. There is no other way. VO 40.55 Two days after the family officially asked for Zahra’s body to be returned to Canada, she was buried in Shiraz. All hope of an independent autopsy was lost. Canada was furious. ARCHIVE CANADA newsreader 41.54 Canada today ordered its ambassador in Iran to return home for consultations. The move is meant to signal Ottawa's growing anger over the way Iran's handled the case of Canadian photo journalist Zahra Kazemi. ARCHIVE journalist : How angry are you ? ARCHIVE – CANADIAN PRIME MINSTER CHRETIAN But I'm very unhappy that they take a journalist and kill a journalist, unacceptable and I put that very strongly . VO 42.47 Mortazavi now found himself in the thick of a very public battle with reformists led by Khatami. Mortazavi was accused in Parliament of hiding the truth. IV MOJTAHEDI Mr Mortazavi eh has said on a number of occasions that he is somehow untouchable , he's a personal favourite of the supreme leader Ayatollah Khamene’i and essentially nobody can get to him. VO But the reformists weren’t prepared to back down. IV MOHSEN ARMIN 43.10 My aim was to prevent a move to cover up this killing. As I felt there is a will that wants to cover up the murder of Zahra Kazemi …and to hide and distort the truth. VO 43.30 And the row got worse when, the hardline judiciary indicted two officials from the reformist intelligence ministry for what it called the “ quasi-intentional killing” of Zahra Kazemi. One of them was eventually put on trial. 43.43 The hardliner’s case was that Zahra Kazemi had been examined by an intelligence ministry doctor and pronounced fit . It was only after that – while with the intelligence ministry interrogators - that she collapsed. SYNCH PROF MAHMOUD AKHUNDI 43.59 It should have been solved much earlier than this and shouldn’t have taken this long to solve. That is what is causing concern with there being so few people involved, they should easily identify the culprit. VO 44.21 Now it was the reformists turn to fight back. 44.32 Their parliamentary report accused Saeed Mortazavi of coercing witnesses and tampering with evidence. 44.40 It suggested the fatal blow was struck right at the beginning during a struggle when Zahra refused to give up her equipment to judiciary officials. VO 44.52 They quoted a statement, which they said had been written by Zahra in prison, before she was passed to the intelligence ministry, which said: – “they have broken my nose, they have broken my thumb, and toes.” SYNCH ALI ABTAHI VICE PRESIDENT 45.13 It is naturally very important that the real culprit should be prosecuted…. Proving this case would be very important for the ministry of Intelligence, as it will be defending its reputation. VO 45.30 But this case is too sensitive for many in power to talk about. 45.36 Saeed Mortazavi’s office promised us interviews and access to documents: nothing materialised. 45.49 The coroner’s report remains under wraps, making it impossible to document our hospital witnesses’ testimony about Zahra’s treatment. 45.59 And with her body in the ground, there is no hope of an independent autopsy. 46.06 With so many questions left unanswered, concerned Iranians have drawn their own conclusions about why Zahra died. IV PROF MAHMOUD AKHUNDI 46.16 We have our doubts about it being an accident, after all she was hit on purpose. Apparently the purpose was to obtain a confession. IV MAZROUI 46.26 We know that this is something that unfortunately will happen everyday in Iran because of culture/ - it’s a violent culture you mean? / it’s a violent culture unfortunately. VO 46.48 Zahra’ s story may not end there. 46.51 Under relentless reformist pressure it seems there may have been new arrests - this time of Judiciary officials. And a promise to bring out the truth. But the spotlight has moved on …. 47.09 This recent sit-in protest by reformist MPs marks the latest phase in the bitter struggle over Iran’s future. They were among thousands of reformist candidates banned from elections by the hard-line Guardian Council. 47.46 With the reform movement struggling for its own survival, will Zahra Kazemi’s case be forgotten?. IV STEPHAN 47.53 It's very important for me and, and to to continue to try to… show these pictures; through her photograph, it's a great way to, to give her a voice. VO 48.11 Zahra Kazemi lives on in her photographs but her death may have told us even more about realities in her homeland. IV MRS KAZEMI 48.26 I lost someone I can never replace. Iran showed me no mercy. Why did they kill her? IV STEPHAN 48.44 It’s obvious they wanted to bury her story as they buried her body… but we can’t let that happen END TITLES 1