Houshang Asadi

A journalist, writer, and translator, Houshang Asadi was a member of both the Writers' Association of Iran and the Iranian Journalists' Syndicate, and the co-founder of the Association of Iranian Film Critics and Script Writers. Prior to the Islamic Revolution he served for many years as Deputy Editor at Kayhan, Iran's largest daily newspaper. In 1983, following the new Iranian government's crackdown on all opposition parties, Asadi was arrested and sent again to Moshtarek prison. He was severely tortured until he falsely confessed to operating as a spy for the British and Russian intelligence agencies. He received a sentence of death by hanging, but was freed after serving six years. In 2003 he escaped Iran. He now lives in exile in Paris, where he co-founded the Persian-language news site Rooz Online. His memoir, Letters to My Torturer: Love, Revolution and Imprisonment in Iran, has just been published by Oneworld Publications.