How Brian May can help YOU survive an Iranian prison

(CNN) -- A trip to Iran to learn more about her family's ancestry became a nightmare for American journalist Roxana Saberi. In January 2009, while she was working in the country, several men showed up at the Iranian-American's door and carted her off to Evin Prison, the notoriously brutal lockup outside Tehran where three American hikers were recently imprisoned. Like Josh Fattal, Sarah Shourd and Shane Bauer, Saberi was accused of being a spy for the U.S.

CNN talked with Saberi about the advice she would give the hikers and about her experience at Evin.

CNN: Tell me more about how you kept sane, especially in solitary confinement. How did you even keep track of time?

Saberi: Well, I thought I was going crazy. I was in solitary for more than two weeks; then I was sent to a cell that had state-run TV playing so I could see the time. I could hear the call to prayer and see sun rays cast on the cell walls and floors.

CNN: Can you describe what solitary confinement was like?

Saberi: I tried to keep my sanity by singing songs like Christmas carols and "We Will Rock you," and I played notes with my fingers on the wall. I kept saying things that gave me courage like Gandhi's "I do believe I am seeking only God's truth and have lost all fear of man."

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/22/world/meast/saberi-hikers-iran/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

Ha, wow..

Anyone who chooses to go to these middle eastern countries is beyond insane.  He's lucky to be alive.

Well, quite a few Middle Eastern countries aren't really THAT bad so it would  be unfair to generalize (I should know, despite being from India I was born and brought up in the Middle East myself, and I had a rather normal life there),  really really rigid perhaps, but not entirely as crazy as they're made out to be. But having said that, yeah, Iran's  been crazy ever since the Ayatollah came along and the poor guy's absolutely lucky he  finally got out!

Loved the fact that WWRY got him through...whenever I'm really pissed off Death on Two Legs ALWAYS puts me in a better mood :P

Ha... that's great.

Any way we can make sure this story gets to Brian May?  I'm sure he'd enjoy reading it.

Mail it to his soapbox! I'm sure he'll have a good laugh, though it might spark off a bit of a political rant on what the world is coming to. I  swear, sometimes I think he sounds like my dad :P

LapOfTheGods1986 wrote:

Well, quite a few Middle Eastern countries aren't really THAT bad so it would  be unfair to generalize (I should know, despite being from India I was born and brought up in the Middle East myself, and I had a rather normal life there)

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Very curious, where exactly were you raised then?

Naturally I didn't mean to imply that the entire middle east is a war-torn hell hole, but we hear plenty of stories of people going to Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, etc. and somehow expecting sympathy from the public because they were "unexpectedly" taken hostage and tortured.

The United Arab Emirates, which in comparison to Iraq, Iran or Afghanistan, has a lot less of that kind of strife...so would countries like Oman and Qatar. KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) which being amazingly rigid in a lot of respects, ends up not being in AS bad a situation as the above three. Lebenon and Syria - and of course, what's left of Palestine - have gone through periods of strife, but often many other countries do, really. True, with the main religion being Islam restrictions are undeniably part of the package, but it's not often as tragic as depicted - and I can honestly say this being a Catholic from India.

Of course, the aforementioned countries are disadvantaged by the governments who rose to power there - the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Revolutionary Guard in Iran (which most Iranians vouched for at the time because they believed the return of Ayatollah would bring on a sense of freedom and equality...and we know exactly what occurred afterwards, and Hussein in Iraq). It has more to do with their governments etc than the people themselves or the actual country IMO, and I guess we could say the same for any country with any sort of totalitarian government. But within West Asia itself the degree differs.

I can completely understand the wariness though, given that many countries in West Asia may seem rather rigid etc, and Iran for the most part IS riddled with this kind of behaviour from the government still.

HAHA, I misread it as Iranian Person.  Man, that's advice we all need at one time or another.

Nah, Zeb, he already did that from 1973-1991.

I think Jim Hutton beat his record overall

[QUOTE]
LapOfTheGods1986 wrote:
The United Arab Emirates, which in comparison to Iraq, Iran or Afghanistan, has a lot less of that kind of strife...so would countries like Oman and Qatar. KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) which being amazingly rigid in a lot of respects, ends up not being in AS bad a situation as the above three. Lebenon and Syria - and of course, what's left of Palestine - have gone through periods of strife, but often many other countries do, really. True, with the main religion being Islam restrictions are undeniably part of the package, but it's not often as tragic as depicted - and I can honestly say this being a Catholic from India.

Of course, the aforementioned countries are disadvantaged by the governments who rose to power there - the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Revolutionary Guard in Iran (which most Iranians vouched for at the time because they believed the return of Ayatollah would bring on a sense of freedom and equality...and we know exactly what occurred afterwards, and Hussein in Iraq). It has more to do with their governments etc than the people themselves or the actual country IMO, and I guess we could say the same for any country with any sort of totalitarian government. But within West Asia itself the degree differs.

I can completely understand the wariness though, given that many countries in West Asia may seem rather rigid etc, and Iran for the most part IS riddled with this kind of behaviour from the government still. 
[/QUOTE]

Indeed, I've got relatives all over the arabian gulf (like so many other south indians do) and they have mainly good things to say about UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and other countries. My muslim friends have a good time in Saudi Arabia too, but others not that much, what with all the restrictions on free practise of one's religion/culture.
@ LapOfTheGods1986 - good to see a fellow indian here. i am from mumbai. and u?

Roger Taylor has also made his mark at helping inmates to pass the time in prison!

As shown (2:00) by these prisoners in the Philippines:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAVVVMcTShQ

Does anyone also rememebr the news a few years ago where rock music at full vlume was used as a torture method on guantanamo bay detainees. Queen was mentioned as one of the bands whose music was used.