Dorothy Parvaz turned up in Qatar yesterday after two weeks of obfuscation by Tehran
ALMOST TWO weeks ago, I wrote with dread an article that began: “My friend Dorothy Parvaz is missing.” As of yesterday, these words are, happily, out of date.
After being out of contact since April 29th, when she went missing on assignment in Syria, Dorothy resurfaced unexpectedly yesterday in Doha, Qatar. A reporter for al-Jazeera, based in Doha, she flew to Damascus on April 29th to cover the protests there and then went missing.
There was no word for 19 days from Dorothy, a citizen of three countries: Canada, the US and Iran, where she was born in 1971. The information that emerged conflicted in a disturbing manner.
On May 2nd, the Iranian government called on Syria to release her. In addition, her family said they believed she was being held by the Syrian government.
On May 4th, the Syrian authorities told al-Jazeera they had her in detention.
Then, on May 11th, came the revisionist news from Syria that she had been deported to Iran on May 1st, one day before Iran had called for her release from Syria.
In the meantime, her story and picture had been published around the world. A number of organisations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, demanded her release. A huge campaign ran on social media such as Facebook and Twitter, using the hashtag #FreeDorothy.
The Free Dorothy Parvaz page on Facebook attracted more than 16,000 “likes” in fewer than 10 days. Thousands of people tweeted and retweeted messages about her. A network of family and friends worked tirelessly on her campaign in the US and Canada.
Last Friday, at the initiative of Unity, Journalists of Colour, a community of journalists from minorities, a digital billboard at Times Square in New York carried her image and a message calling for her release.
It’s the only time in the last couple of weeks I really laughed: above all, Dorothy detests being photographed. To know her face was displayed metres high in the world’s most famous public space was fantastic black comedy to those who know her.
On Tuesday, the Iranian foreign ministry said Dorothy had committed violations by travelling on an expired Iranian passport, by entering Syria without a press visa and by carrying her US and Canadian passports. It still did not say she was in Iran, however.
Early yesterday morning, I woke up to my phone going crazy. Friends told me al-Jazeera was carrying the news that Dorothy was free, back in Doha, released by the Iranian authorities.
Her fiance, Todd Barker, who has been with Dorothy’s family in Vancouver, Canada, posted on Facebook: “She is safe in Doha and will be coming to Vancouver BC soon. We can’t wait to see her.”
An hour later, there was an e-mail from Dorothy to me and other friends of hers, saying she had returned to her apartment in Doha two hours earlier.
She confirmed she had been in Iran and that she had been well treated. She wrote that she was amazed, embarrassed and grateful at the extent of the high-profile international campaign run for her.
“Your friend lives to see another day and can’t wait to see your smiling faces and to thank you in person soon,” she concluded.
I can’t wait either.
