‘Free Iran’ rally gives voice to those still suffering in Iran

Free Iran’ rally gives voice to those still suffering in Iran

Farzad Madadzadeh, a former Iranian political prisoner, who escaped Iran last year, has written his account of why he plans to join tens of thousands of Iranians and their international supporters at the July 9 "Free Iran" rally in Paris.

In an op-ed for The Hill on Tuesday, Mr. Madadzadeh wrote: "Needless to say, it is a significant international event regarding an important international issue. But for me it is very personal. In spirit, I will be with a much larger crowd. We will be joined by a countless Iranians still living under the thumb of the theocratic regime, who will risk reprisals to watch the proceedings on banned satellite television channels."

"How do I know? After this year’s rally, I will have seen the event from both sides of the ideological wall that separates the Islamic Republic from most of the rest of the world. In past years, I was among those Iranians who supported the NCRI and its main constituent group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK), from a silent place inside the country. I put my safety and freedom at risk, as did many of my colleagues, to carry on the groups’ local activism. I spent five years in jail from 2009 to 2014 and suffered extensive physical and psychological torture for my support for the PMOI.  I fled Iran at the age of 29 last year."