Naeim Tavakkoli last saw his father Behrouz three years ago in Tehran’s infamous Evin prison. Behrouz, a leader in among the 300,000 Iranians who follow the Baha’i religion, had failed to come home weeks earlier. Naeim, his mother, and brother searched hospitals and police stations but found no trace. Finally they were told Behrouz had been arrested by the Intelligence Ministry and were allowed to see him.

The three of them sat across from Behrouz on a small bench in a tiny room with two government agents standing behind them, watching and listening. “My father was slim, pale, with a long beard. They didn’t let him shave,” Naeim said in an interview with Maclean’s. “He was limping, wearing a jail uniform, not quite clean. Pajamas, basically.” Continue…