Writer and political activist Houshang Asadi spent time in prison during the shah’s regime and was subsequently imprisoned for six years following the Iranian revolution. In his book, Letters to My Torturer: Love, Revolution, and Imprisonment in Iran,  he reflects on his life in prison after his arrest in 1981. The book is a series of 27 letters to his interrogator.

Today, Asadi is co-founder of  the Persian-language news site Rooz Online. He tells us about his experience in prison and explains why he felt compelled to write about it 20 years later.