The Golden Cage by Shirin Ebadi

Author:Shirin Ebadi
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Kales Press

A week later we were invited to Evin to see the doctor. Evidently Iran’s “justice system” was functioning fine, as long as you knew who to pay. My father asked me to accompany him because he feared that he wouldn’t be able to control his emotions—but as it turned out, this wasn’t necessary. The day before the visit the doorbell at my parents’ home rang. My mother raced to the door, yelling with joy: “The doctor’s here! They’ve freed him, they’ve freed him!” My father and I watched her incredulously. We looked up, worried that it was a bad joke.

But there, at the door, was the doctor. Thin and pallid, sure, a little hunched over, and older than I remembered him, but it was him all right, in flesh and blood. He embraced us, smiling. My mother went off to call her family, while I prepared tea for everyone. Like my father and me, the doctor loved tea, and it was clear how much he missed it in prison.

When we’d sat again in the living room, my uncle explained why he had been released.

“At Evin there’s a small hospital for the prisoners. When they discovered that I was a doctor they asked me to treat those who needed eye surgery. At first I wanted to refuse—the idea of collaborating with the Pasdaran horrified me—but then I realized that I could alleviate the suffering of the prisoners. I had nothing else to do, after all, and I wanted to make myself useful, to make my days count. Thus my career as a prison hospital surgeon was underway. There was only one other ophthalmologist so we took turns operating, assisting, and bandaging. I’d never worked so hard in my life.”

Despite his emaciated frame, my uncle seemed to be in good spirits. My father’s expression calmed with every word he spoke.

“Why were there so many people with eye problems? Was there some kind of epidemic?” I asked.

“Worse than an epidemic, my dear. They’d been tortured, you see. This gives a shock to the nervous system that causes the veins in the heart, kidneys, and eyes to burst. If the hemorrhaging isn’t treated immediately the patient can go blind.”

My mother broke in, impatiently: “Save that for later. Tell us about how you were released.”

“Pure luck. While I was working at the hospital the head physician happened to stop by the facility and he recognized me. He had been a student of mine at the university and has since enjoyed a good career, helped along the way by his father-in-law, a mullah in Khomeini’s circle. As soon as he heard my story he offered to help. He spoke with the president of the tribunal, and in less than two days he’d secured my release. The next morning he took me to sign several release forms.” He smiled. “I didn’t even have time to call you before I left.”

There wasn’t much to be proud of in the way that justice had been administered, I thought bitterly.

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