Faezeh Hashemi, daughter of former President Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsan-jani, says the six months she spent in jail last year for criticizing the regime was the best time of her life.
A former Majlis deputy and founder of a women’s magazine that was later banned, Faezeh served six months in prison for her statements and support of the 2009 post-election protests.
Speaking to the reformist daily Etemad, Faezeh said she never thought that the regime would actually confine her to jail. As a result, she never worried about spending time in confinement.
Of her days in prison, she said, “I still look at it as the best time of my life, and I thank those who offered this opportunity for me. Prison opened another world to me. I think it was my own spirits that turned this threat into an opportunity.”
Faezeh denied rumors that she received special privileges while in prison. She said she spent “several hours a day translating a book,” ran two different book clubs and joined other prisoners in political and non-political discussions.
She said the friendships she made in prison have lasted, because “the depth of a friendship that is made in prison is not something you easily forget.”
Faezeh adheres to the Islamic dress code, but she did so in her younger years wearing jeans and colorful headscarves when that was frowned upon.
She said her father never interfered with her dress preferences. But she said he didn’t always approve of the way she edited her magazine, Zan (Woman).
She said he would offer “recommendations, warnings and sometimes threats” about her publication before it was banned in 1999. She did not explain what the threats were.
