It was the tremendous pressure that was mounted on the Iranian government that eventually and despite her eight year sentence, led to the release of Roxana Saberi. Of course, Ms. Saberi is a journalist with convictions and a very brave young lady and we were all joyful because she was released and I don’t want to take anything away from her. The fact is before her release, first there were protests by Northwestern University students and faculty, and then the news spread to the media and the political scene. I am not sure how much of that all determining pressure can be attributed to the university and media, our Iranian community, the covert efforts of Japanese government or maybe even the US. Similarly, here is a brave young man, Mohammad Yusef Rashidi, who stood up in front of Ahmadinejad and the IRI machine of death and torture and held up that all famous handwritten sign. Now he is braving torture while on hunger strike and his young brave life will, in all likelihood, end in the hands of the IRI hangmen as he is sentenced to death.
All the while, there are no protests and news reports letting the world know about his fate. He does not have any universities or influential governments taking up his cause. All he has is the Iranian community abroad, you and I.
Who bears the responsibility to be his voice and to put his story and his face on the mass media in every corner of the world?
We are the only hope he has.
