Inside Ellie's Head

Beaten and Arrested

Mistaken for a protester in Tehran, Globe freelancer George McLeod was captured and beaten by riot police. His story gives a small glimpse into how demonstrators are being treated in Iran by the police and reconfirms all our fears for our loved ones in Iran.

Below is his article as it appeared on: www.theglobeandmail.com

GEORGE McLEOD

TEHRAN — Special to The Globe and Mail, Tuesday, Jun. 16, 2009 02:56AM EDT

Riot police had driven off anti-government demonstrators and the sting of tear gas in the air was fading yesterday when the heavy-set man in a camouflage uniform grabbed me, shouting in Farsi, and pushed me into a throng of riot police.

They shouted while I waved my hand and said "Canadian" to no effect. Before I knew what was happening, I was whisked away on a motorcycle to the Interior Ministry headquarters, and taken to a large basement room.

Inside a concrete room to my left, I could see more than 50 others being made to stand in uncomfortable positions - on their toes with their hands pressed behind their heads. Some were covered in blood, and police with batons patrolled the rows, tapping some detainees on the shoulders with their sticks.

There was no screaming, just the sound of boots pacing on the concrete floor.

For a few terrifying hours yesterday, I was mistaken for an anti-government protester, giving me a glimpse into how the hundreds arrested over the weekend are being treated by authorities in a system where dissidents are known to "disappear" and not be seen again for months.

It all started when a few hundred supporters of Mir-Hossein Mousavi rallied yesterday to protest against the defeat of their candidate.

Men and women shouted slogans, waved flags and called for an end to the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Just like the day before, when election results were first released showing a bigger-than-expected victory for Mr. Ahmadinejad, police dressed in jet-black riot gear charged the crowd with batons, fired tear gas and struck whomever straggled behind.

Plainclothes officers hand-picked whomever they could, throwing them in vans and on black motorcycles to be driven off to unknown places.

I was walking by a checkpoint and an officer grabbed me and forced me onto a motorcycle. As soon as we stopped, I was grabbed from the bike by another officer and slapped across the head. Seven officers ran up to join in the slapping, and one punched me in the head. A large officer, about 6 foot 4 and dressed in camouflage, grabbed me by the neck, pinching my jugular but not my windpipe. His leather gloves cut through my skin and I was pinned against a van, my arm bent high behind my back.

I was then thrown onto a second motorcycle with one police officer in front of me and another behind, slapping me more and cursing during the quick ride around the corner.

When we stopped, an officer grabbed me, pinned my arm behind my back and led me into the bowels of the Interior Ministry headquarters - where so many Iranian dissidents "disappear."

We went down several flights of dark concrete stairs to a large basement room, where I was grabbed by the shirt and pinned against the wall, as more questions were shouted at me in Farsi - and as I caught glimpses of the others being treated far worse. I was separated from the protesters, and officers gathered around me, attracted by the spectacle of a foreigner.

Some pushed me, and I was worried I would be held and beaten for days. But two of the officers fended the others off. They took my camera to see whether I had photographed the riots, but I had already erased the images. I was questioned in broken English for about 20 minutes - sometimes held against the wall, sometimes allowed to stand while officers smiled and chatted.

A man then came downstairs and led me back up the dark staircase to the front of the building where a friendly, English-speaking officer photocopied my passport and press credentials.

"There has been a terrible misunderstanding," I was told. "There is a bad situation in Tehran, and sometimes the officers get confused," he said with a smile, while a plainclothes officer offered me water and tea.

In an almost surreal gesture, they introduced me to the riot police officer standing nearby, who shook my hand and said, "You are my friend," and, "Canada is good."

The officer told me I was free to go, and I was allowed to walk out of the Interior Ministry building with nothing more than bleeding welts on my neck and a swollen arm.

My journalist credentials and Canadian passport got me out of the Interior Ministry building, but dozens of others remained in that basement.

Students being Targeted at Tehran University

If violence against demonstrators is disturbing, what do you call violence against university students that is perpetrated in the middle of the night when they are not out protesting but in bed sleeping?! 

The Islamic Republic of Iran is taking it too far, targeting students, young people in their dorms at Tehran University. Dressed in normal civilian clothes they raided and attacked the dorms, behind destruction. An unclear number are suspected dead, and/or perhaps taken prisoner.  The specifics of the night attack remain unclear...

Silencing the Voices in Iran

Since the presidential election in Iran and the start of the protest that followed it, I have not heard or seen my of my friends and family living in Iran. I have seen the pictures of brutalized protesters and have been sick to my stomach thinking that perhaps some of my friends my have been part of those crowds chanting "Where is our Vote?"

Today I find out from a friend living in Isfahan that dial up internet has been cut, that censorship has heightened, and that a decree has been passed giving any government official the power to execute any persons that they perceive as disobeying the Islamic Rule of Iran. 

Here are a few pictures that he shared with me, urging me to pass them along. His reach is limited by the government. It is up to all of us to pass these images along so that the world can become aware of the intensity of the situation in Iran.

Protesting in Iran is Dangerous Business

Ahmadinejad downplayed the protests after the election and compared them to those after a soccer match. Do these people look like they are upset about a soccer team loosing? My heart goes out to all who have spoken loudly and have put themselves at risk.

Supporting Mousavi in Iran

Supporting Mousavi has more to do with Iran's international image than the political views and ideologies of the leader who had his share of influence in orchestrating the Iranian Revolution. By supporting a candidate who is less of a hard liner than Ahmadinejad (at least in the eyes of the international communities), Iranians are saying that they heard Obama's message of negotiations and that they want to make these posibble... as best as they can. 

Many critics outside of Iran complain that Mousavi is just as terrible as Ahmadinejad. That if Iranians support any candidate that is appointed by the government rather than the people, their choice is a non-choice to start with. What we have to understand is that the choice that the Iranian people have is not between Ahmadinejad and a presidential candidate of the people's choosing. It's between a president who is viewed internationally as a political separatist and one who doesn't have this reputation internationally. The Iranian people are not stupid. They have a difficult choice to make. And they are sending a message to the US and the rest of the world that: "We want the negotiations. We want change."

Cookie Cookie Cookie

Elmo over the bed... Cookie monster on the other wall. That's how I roll

Apparently my little niece kisses her Elmo good night every night since I painted it last month. 

And the first thing she said when she saw her cookie monster floating up up up on her wall: 

"Where is his cookie?"

So I guess I'm going back to paint a cookie in his waiving hand. 

Of food and eating raw..

Eating nothing but raw foods for five days has been the most challenging part of this whole diet. More difficult than giving up Chocolate, having nothing but pureed soup after five, and preparing almost every meal myself!

I cannot imagine a life of nothing but raw food! I craved bread, baked sweet potatoes, caramelized onions, sauteed eggplants, steamed vegetables. I thought about the vegetarian green curry I could no longer have and the Indian lentil dish. I dreamed of brown rice topped with vegetarian celery stew in broad daylight.

How glad I am that it is now over. I go back to the Vegan diet I once found so restrictive with renewed excitement. I can EAT!! I can eat almost all that I please! Well, except for dairy, meats, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, saturated fats, etc. But still, there is so much that I CAN eat now. Fruits, steamed kale, organic peanut butter with toast, bananas, and a tad honey, grilled portobello mushroom sandwich... 

I absolutely cannot wait to get started!!!

Half Way Cleansed

I am 50% cleansed.

The end of today marks the official start of our descend down this 30-day detox mountain... Not a hill but a mountain.. and today is our 15th day of it. Robert asked me today if we could just pretend today was day 20. I told him that he could. Of course that would mean that he'd have to fast tomorrow. 

Day 21: Fasting Day

I do feel better. Not in a have-more-energy, can-move-mountains (so many mountains in this post) kind of way, but rather in a my-skin-is-hydrated, feel-much-lighter-though-have-not-lost-any-weight kind of way. 

I also started reading Wuthering Heights a classic that had slipped through the cracks of my daily life until just now. It's very entertaining. 

A couple of nights ago, Robert and I decided that it was time to start reading something new together. Reading the Hobbit in preparation of the upcoming movie (in 2011) proved to be lots of fun. Our choices: The Lord of The Rings Trilogy, a Shakespeare play (we haven't narrowed this one down yet), The Miserables... We naturally chose The Miserables. The first 50 pages have been quite good. We're told by those who have read it to keep a box of tissues handy...

Cha Cha Routine...

So we had a few additions to the Cha Cha routine class last night and I think I may have scared them a bit with too much info. What can I say, they were doing so well, picking moves up so quickly. I just added and added to the routine until it seemed more complicated than comfortable. 

The good news is that we have another two weeks in the series to smooth out the moves and really learn them. The other good news is that everyone who participated in the class last night must have enjoyed it because they signed up (and prepaid) for the whole series. This makes me feel much better because now I know that they will be back for the remaining two lessons during which we can review and solidify (before adding more to the routine)! 

Mural Addition...

Today, I spent some time adding one of my 4-year-old niece's favorite characters to the mural I painted for her before she was born. The addition was to cover up a butterfly that has been scaring her. What better to cover up a butterfly than a giant hot air balloon with Elmo in it? 

I painted in the morning, then taught some dance lessons in the evening. A full day's work.

Here are some pictures: