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They sit across a table in the interrogation room of the detention center.
She is Nasrin, a beautiful woman, 31, with expressive eyes and lustrous, shoulder length black hair.
She is not wearing her headscarf.
She was apprehended earlier in the day as she walked in a business section of Teheran without her hijab.
The policeman who had detained her had written a short note which lay on the table along with her identifying information.
The security officer, a wiry man in his mid thirties, nodded to himself as he read the note. Then, aloud to Nasrin…
Officer — ‘Woman ignored my call for her to stop and instead walked faster. Another policeman that was ahead of us saw me chasing her and he blocked her path and we both detained her. Arrogant. Stubborn.’
The officer looks at Nasrin directly.
Officer — Why?
Nasrin — Because it’s my body and it belongs to me and no one else.
Officer — But you are Muslim…
Nasrin — So far.
Officer — You want to change your religion?
Nasrin — Ha! I’m well aware that if I tried that I would be guilty of apostasy, punishable by life imprisonment or death.
Officer — Yes… we are who we are… and our rules come from the prophet who heard them from Allah. So… how is Islam making you unhappy?
Nasrin — Those…
