Spanish Ana Panera does not know the charges for which she was arrested in Iran, and then later released, appearing with short hair. She was later accused of espionage, but fortunately regained her freedom after a period of ambiguity during difficult months. After her release last week and her return to her home country following four months in prison in Iran, she stated that she "forced herself throughout her ordeal to believe that she would regain her freedom because she had done nothing wrong."
Panera mentioned to the Europa Press news agency on Thursday that "the hardest thing she went through was probably not knowing the charges against her for several days while being unable to communicate with other female prisoners who did not speak her language." She added, "You keep hoping that you will be released because you did nothing wrong. The problem is that days pass and they do not release you, so you force yourself to think that you will get out."
Panera works in a non-governmental organization concerned with human rights, but she states that she is not an activist. She denied participating in the anti-government protests that began after her arrival in Iran on September 6 following a trip to Georgia and Armenia. Iran has been witnessing protests against the rule of clerics following the death of young Kurdish Iranian Mahsa Amini (22) after being detained by the morality police for wearing "inappropriate clothing."
Panera noted that she was arrested in mid-October after visiting an immigration office to request a visa extension allowing her to stay longer in the country. She was sitting with an Iranian friend in a car at a gas station when she was arrested, and they were on their way to Persepolis, the capital of the ancient Achaemenid Empire.
Iranian authorities also charged another Spanish citizen named Santiago Sánchez (41) with espionage, who remains in detention. He was on a 6,800-kilometer journey on foot from Madrid to Qatar to attend the World Cup. Panera expressed her happiness at returning to her hometown of Corcubión in northwest Spain and expressed gratitude to Madrid for its efforts to ensure her release.
