Freidoune Sahebjam bol francúzsko-iránsky novinár a románopisec. Jeho diela sa často zaoberajú vážnymi sociálnymi a politickými témami, skúmajú ľudské utrpenie a nespravodlivosť. Sahebjam písal s naliehavosťou a súcitom, snažil sa osvetliť zabudnuté alebo potláčané príbehy. Jeho romány sú silno zakorenené v správach a osobných svedectvách, čo im dodáva znepokojivú autentickosť. Vďaka svojmu jedinečnému rozprávaciemu štýlu upozornil na dôležité, ale často ignorované aspekty ľudskej skúsenosti.
Die Hölle des Bauernmädchens Bilquis beginnt, als sowjetische Soldaten sie in ihrem afghanischen Heimatdorf vergewaltigen. Daraufhin wird sie aufgrund der strengen Traditionen von den Taliban und der eigenen Mutter als Hure verstoßen. Gewalt und Brutalität prägen ihr weiteres Leben, bis die heute 27-Jährige in einem iranischen Flüchtlingslager Ruhe und Zuflucht findet. Dort hat sie dem Journalisten Freidoune Sahebjam ihre erschütternde Lebensgeschichte erzählt ...
Soraya M.’s husband, Ghorban-Ali, couldn’t afford to marry another woman. Rather than returning Soraya’s dowry, as custom required before taking a second wife, he plotted with four friends and a counterfeit mullah to dispose of her. Together, they accused Soraya of adultery. Her only crime was cooking for a friend’s widowed husband. Exhausted by a lifetime of abuse and hardship, Soraya said nothing, and the makeshift tribunal took her silence as a confession of guilt. They sentenced her to death by stoning: a punishment prohibited by Islam but widely practiced. Day by day—sometimes minute by minute—Sahebjam deftly recounts these horrendous events, tracing Soraya’s life with searing immediacy, from her arranged marriage and the births of her children to her husband’s increasing cruelty and her horrifying execution, where, by tradition, her father, husband, and sons hurled the first stones. A stark look at the intersection between culture and justice, this is one woman’s story, but it stands for the stories of thousands of women who suffered—and continue to suffer—the same fate. It is a story that must be told.