Dear Alessia, I never imagined that in this unequal struggle between the Iranian people and the henchmen of the Islamic Republic you would be arrested and imprisoned, a young Italian woman treated like brave Iranian women. I want to tell you that you won together with them, because Evin prison has always been the place of the winners.
How long has it been since the most extraordinary women and men in the country regularly end up behind bars in Evin, ward 209. Today this infamy has touched you, you who are a guest of the Iranian people: and it is heartbreaking, because we are accustomed to welcoming our guests with an open heart. But I know that in the few days you spent in Iran, you could experience how much the Iranian people despise their government from which they are radically separated.
I would like to be a superhero with powers to tear down the prison wall and drag all the other political prisoners out with you.
I think of you, Alessia’s parents, I turn to you. I know how worried you are and how fear devours you. I know how thirsty you are to see her again. I remember the stifling pain of my father and mother that time they were waiting for me right there, outside the walls of Evin. On behalf of the Iranian people, the real Iran, I ask your forgiveness and I promise to stay next to you, next to Alessia.
A few days ago the kind Italian people demonstrated against the regime of the Islamic Republic, siding, at a distance, alongside the Iranian people. I thank you all. And I am deeply ashamed of the fact that your daughter is in the prison of the Islamic Republic at this time: from now on, we will also protest in the square for Alessia’s release. I hope that this time the politicians of Europe and the whole world understand that it is not appropriate to get along with the Islamic Republic, I hope that none of them poses for a photo next to the leaders of the Iranian regime. If anyone were to do that, then they should look to the bloody hands of those leaders. Dear Alessia, dear parents of Alessia, dear Italian people, this time the sun will rise from the streets of Iran and from behind the bars of Evin prison. Stay with us and be our voice, we will win. With love, from Iran.
(text collected by Francesca Paci)