Last fall, Iranian authorities arrested Alireza Alinejad, a 45-year-old father of two, who has not broken any laws, not even according to the officials who jailed him. There would be nothing newsworthy about yet another unwarranted arrest in Iran, except that this one involves an unusual story of familial love, with a brother making a profound sacrifice for the sake of his sister.
Sign up for a weekly roundup of thought-provoking ideas and debates
Amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, Iran has temporarily freed more than 50,000 prisoners to combat the disease’s spread in the country’s crowded jails, but Alinejad remains in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran, vulnerable to covid-19 infection. At his first court hearing last week, the judge would not specify the charges against him and refused to grant parole. According to Alinejad’s defense attorney, the judge’s questioning focused on his sister’s activities.
The Washington Post, May 1, 2020
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-steadfast-brother-shows-that-men-have-a-role-in-the-liberation-of-irans-women/2020/04/30/847469e2-8a5d-11ea-8ac1-bfb250876b7a_story.html