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thursday, may 1, 1980
lincoln, nebraska vol. 104, no. 74
egment of Ashtiani diary released
By Rich Jurgens
and Randy Essex
Copyright, 1980, The Daily Nebraskan
Excerpts from the diary of Bijan Atai
Ashtiani, the Iranian student who died
April 6 in the Lincoln Regional Center,
have been obtained by the Daily Nebraskan
and paint a picture of a young man caught
up in a legal system he did not understand
well.
The excerpts, dated Feb. 13, 14 and 20,
were given to the Daily Nebraskan by a
UNL Iranian student who said he was a
close friend of Ashtiani. The Iranian
student also said Ashtiani gave him (the
student) the excerpts while Ashtiani was at
the regional center.
Written in Persian on sheets of paper
with 'Douglas County Hospital Laboratory
Reports" printed at the top, the excerpts
were translated for the Daily Nebraskan by
two native speakers of Persian working
independently.
The translation was done by the UNL
Iranian studen.t and was checked Wednes
day by UNL linguist and associate profess
or of English Hassan Sharif . Sharif said he
talked to Ashtiani "many times" on a
regular basis while Ashtiani was in the
regional center.
After checking the excerpts in the
presence of a Daily Nebraskan reporter,
Sharif said, "Parts of this (the excerpts)
jibe with my recollection of what Bijan
told me."
"Part of the story is what I'd heard
from him (while Ashtiani was, at the
regional center), including the part about "
his experience in Douglas County Court,"
Sharif said.
Newspaper experience
The UNL professor said Ashtiani also
told him about his experience of trying to
buy newspapers at the regional center,
which was in the diary.
Sharif! compared the writing with other
samples of Ashtiani's handwriting in his
possession.
"I'm not a handwriting expert," Sharifi
said, "But this looks like the same
writing."
There were slight discrepancies in the
UNL Iranian student's translation of the
diary and Sharifi's translation. The UNL
student used the word "cops" to describe
guards and police officers. Sharifi said a
more accurate translation of the Persian
word Ashtiani used would be "agents."
Other discrepancies were similar and did
not affect the content of the writing-only
the wording.
Sharifi earned his master's degree in
linguistics at UCLA in 1967, and earned
his Ph J), from the University of Michigan
in 1971.
In his diary, Ashtiani said that his bond
originally had been set at $25,000 and that
a few minutes later, after a conference in
the judges' chambers, it was changed to
$50,000 bond.
Ivory Griggs, the Douglas County public
defender representing Ashtiani in a first
degree assault case stemming from the Dec.
20 stabbing of Ashtiani's landlord, Don
Turner, said that the bond originally was
set at $50,000. However, he admitted the
bond set for Ashtiani was unusually high
for an assault case.
In the diary, Ashtiani said that his bond
not know what the charges against him
were.
Griggs said the purpose of bond is to en
sure that the accused will appear in court.
'Would have gone'
Ashtiani had told the court that he
would leave the United States at his first
opportunity , Griggs said .
For this reason, Griggs said, the court
decided to set the bond high enough to
keep him from leaving the United States.
In another portion of the diary Ashtiani
wrote about his lawyers being changed, or
DOUGLAS COUNTY HOSPITAL
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at least he thought they were changed.
'Ten minutes later they took me back
to the previous room again. There, I saw a
skinny man with a wicked face who told
me he was a lawyer.
"I said, 'I have my own lawyer.' He told
me back, 'Don't talk to anyone except me
and your lawyer."
Griggs said that during arraignment
Ashtiani was extremely confused, was on
medication and was planning to protest
during the hearing. He said Ashtiani had
brought a sign protesting his case and that
he had persuaded his client to put down
the sign.
The CIA and the FBI also were bom
barding him with questions, accusing Ash
tiani of making unpatriotic and un-American
statements, Griggs said.
Griggs said a police report alleged that
Ashtiani had written signs that said, "kill
Carter."
Griggs said that the man to whom
Ashtiani probably was referring was Roger
Holthaus, Ashtiani's attorney during his
mental health hearing. Griggs said Ashtiani
had not met Holthaus before his prelimin
ary hearing, which may have been the
reason for his confusion.
Griggs was not present when Holthaus
talked to Ashtiani.
"I stayed away because I knew he
(Ashtiani) would be upset," Griggs said.
Mental health hearing
Griggs said his main goal in defending
Ashtiani was to keep him out of jail.
For this reason, Griggs said, it was de
cided to have a mental health hearing.. It
was found at the mental health hearing
that Ashtiani was a danger to himself and
later was committed to the hospital.
"I have no doubts that the charges
would never have been filed," Griggs said
and that Ashtiani would have been on his
way to Iran by the end of April.
In yet another portion of the diary,
Ashtiani wrote about the American
hostages in Tehran. He considered himself
a hostage, according to friends.
"As usual, the TV had some news about
Iran. It said that the hostages won't be re
leased soon. I smiled happily, even though
I knew it would delay my freedom."
Griggs said he did not know Ashtiani's
political views and said he never discussed
politics with him. However, he said he ad
vised Ashtiani not to make any political
statements to anyone.
Sharifi said that Ashtiani gave him the
impression that Ashtiani was used by one
of his attorneys, because they knew he did
not understand the American legal system.
Continued on Page 2
Iranian's account tells of 'prison called a hospital'
The following is the entire text of an excerpt from the
diary of Bijan Ashtiani obtained by the Daily Nebraskan.
Feb. 13, 1980
Today, like every other day in this prison called a hos
pital, I woke up early in the morning. Probably it is better
if I say I just got up from the bed since sleeping under
these conditions, even by using several sleeping pills, is
something impossible. Anyway, after washing my hands
and face and reading some verses from the Holy Koran, I
went to the window and waited for the sun to rise. I
didn't have to wait long; finally the beautiful face of the
sun began to rise, glowing, from behind the trees. This is
my favorite pastime every day.
A few minutes later my roommate opened his eyes. He
has been my roommate for 15 days. The first thing, he
said was "Today I am leaving you (I will be freed)." I felt
deeply sorry not because he is going and will leave me
alone, but because I suddenly remembered the last 53
days of my fife, every week hoping to be released, and
also the false promises of my lawyer, and the savage treat
ment of the hospital employees because of the American
hostages in Tehran. My future seems to be dark, since I
don't know when they're going to release me. My eye
caught the Bible which an American priest brought for me
as a present. I turned a page and I saw this beautiful sen
tence, "You will be judged as you have judged me." This
was my hope to God.
Then I went toward the office for my daily argument
in order to get the newspaper. 1 had to sign a paper in
order to get money from my account and buy a news
paper for me. I signed the paper and I went to the next
room for breakfast. The same old breakfast-it reminded
me of the grass my grandmother used to feed her cow; it
was the same every day. As usual the TV had some news
about Iran. It said that the hostages won't be released
soon. I smiled happily, even though I knew it would delay
my freedom.
Then I went to the office to get the newspaper, and
they said it would arrive at 10 o'clock. I waited, paging
through an old Newsweek magazine of Nov. 26, 1979.
There was an article about Iran: Even though I had heard
the news dozens of times, I read it again in order to waste
some time.
At 10 o'clock I went to the office again to get the news
paper, but they told me they already ran out and there are
no more. That made me very angry, and 1 felt like shout
ing, but suddenly I remembered the anesthetic shot I had
last month, the last time I complained. They had taken
me to a dark and cold room and given me a shot which
put me to sleep-as they said, "to calm your nerves."
Now I went to a room in which I could hardly breathe
because of the cigarette smoke, so I sat down in a corner
and started thinking. Then the nurse who was responsible
for me today-though she did not know anything-came
to me and asked "What happened, Bijan?" I told her that
I had wanted a newspaper, but they had answered me,
"Do you want to see your name in the newspaper
again ?"
Feb. 14, 1980
The day the scarecrow of imperialism kisses his wife on
TV to celebrate the recent bloodineis. . .
Continued on Page 8
Remake doesn't miss the mark: Movie reviewer calls Little
Miss Marker "charming." Page 10.
Ronstadt promoter picks Omaha: UPC offer for a Linda
Ronstadt concert in the Bob Devaney Sports Center
was turned down for an Omaha show Page 11.
Juggling priorities: UNL Softball pitcher balances college,
work, marriage and motherhood with a spot on the
softball team Page 12.
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