May 23, 2004

May 17, 2004 (Sydney Morning Herald) -- It's a way of coping with the rigours of detention: to get the desperate thoughts out on paper to try to make sense of it all, writes Sharon Verghis. Mohsen Soltany Zand's voice is initially soft, the words coming reluctantly as we speak on the phone. He doesn't really want to talk about the past - it is not a benign thing, full of pleasant memories, but dark, sharp and equipped with teeth. Zand lives in Chippendale, writes poetry, is studying a surveying course at TAFE, and turned 34 recently. He has a beautiful voice, soft-edged with rolling "r"s, mellifluous and warm despite the halting, brittle speech. He came to Australia in 1999 from Iran and was held in Port Hedland and Villawood as an illegal immigrant for more than four years. Since his release, he has been trying to make sense of his life, those four lost years and what he will do now that the bars are gone >>> See

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