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"I have been arrested in
Tehran
. Please help me": this is the desperate appeal of
Alessia Piperno
,
30
, from
Rome
, which she managed to make on Sunday morning.
After four days of absolute silence - as revealed by
Il Messaggero
- she managed to call her parents
Alberto
and
Miriam
.
The young woman explained that she had "played dumb" to get permission to make a phone call.
"I'm fine, but there are people here who say they've been detained for months for no reason, I'm afraid I won't be able to get out again, help me."
The parents turned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is following the case.
However, it is not even clear in which prison she is being held.
"We are very worried," her father told the Ansa agency, "unfortunately the situation is not going well. After Alessia's phone call from prison yesterday we have had no more news, we have not heard from her again."
A very alarming situation considering the dramatic moment in Iran, with mass protests in the streets for the murder of Masha Amini, resulted in a terrible and fierce repression.
Three days ago
Amnesty International
denounced
the arrest of nine foreigners considered "accomplices"
of the protesters, and also revealed that there is an Italian citizen among them.
Iranian authorities confirmed this.
Alessia had posted several posts on Instagram in recent days in solidarity with the Iranian women's protests.
"People here are tired of being a puppet, that's why thousands of people are taking to the streets to protest. They are demonstrating for their freedom": it is part of the last message, titled
Bella Ciao
.
Arrested on her birthday
According to her parents,
Alessia Piperno
was arrested on Wednesday, her birthday.
In the morning she had spoken with her father, who called her to congratulate her.
In her last Instagram post before the arrest, she wrote that she was "afraid" of what was happening in Iran: "But I can't leave."
According to his father last Wednesday, "he was happy, he was waiting for his friends to leave the hostel to go all together to celebrate his birthday with a picnic, where he would spend the day with a French friend, a Polish friend and an Iranian girl" recalls his father, owner of the Di Libro in Libro bookstore in the Colli Albani neighborhood.
As of 12, however, Alessia's cell phone was disconnected.
At first, the parents thought of a connection problem.
"If she hadn't called, we would have gone to the police station anyway because in six years of traveling the world she has never been without a sign of life for so long."
Desperate parents also launched an appeal on social networks, although they deleted the post at the direction of the authorities.
"This girl is
Alessia Piperno
and she is my daughter. She is a solitary traveler, she travels the world to learn about the customs and traditions of the peoples. She has always adapted and respected the traditions and obligations of each country she visits. We have not known anything of her in 4 days, since she turned 30, on September 28. Her last access to her mobile also bears that date.
This morning she called us crying and told us that she was in jail. In Tehran. In Iran
.
She was arrested along with her friends when she was preparing to celebrate her birthday.
It was just a few words but desperate.
She was asking for help.
We immediately called the Italian Embassy in Tehran.
But we still don't know anything, not even the reason for her imprisonment."
an inveterate traveler
Alessia has been in Iran for two months, waiting for a visa to return to Pakistan, where she had already been for several weeks.
She graduated in science, she did her fourth year in the
United States
and is a great travel enthusiast.
For six years she has been traveling the world, from time to time she returns home.
Among other places she has been to
Iceland
,
Australia
,
Honduras
,
Nicaragua
and
Panama
, working as a travel organizer and as a remote secretary for Italy.
"Our daughter is a girl moved by the love of learning about cultures and peoples. Her happiness lies in traveling. She can manage in all situations, but she is not reckless. On the contrary, she is always very attentive and animated by great rigor. moral. He does not touch alcohol, much less drugs. For this reason, even more, we do not know how to explain what has happened".
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