Prisoner in Baghdad - Daphne Parish

It was while Daphne (Dee) Parish was working in a Baghdad hospital in 1989 that she was arrested by the Iraqi police and accused of spying.;Dee's crime was that she had spent a day in the country, with a friend, "Oberserver" journalist Farzad Bazoft, and they had stopped by an air base where there had been a mysterious explosion. Farzad took samples of ash dust from the scene, in containers - rejects from the hospital - supplied by Dee.;Both Dee and Farzad were imprisoned and relentlessly interrogated. After a travesty of a trial conducted in Arabic, which neither of them understood, both Dee and Farzad were found guilty of spying. Farzad was executed, to international outcry.;Dee was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. For six months, Dee was kept in appalling conditions, in solitary confinement, ants and cockroaches her only company. She was then transferred to a women's prison where she shared a cell with three others, one of whom to her joy could speak English. She kept her spirits up by giving yoga classes, playing Scrabble and advising on medical problems - but she remained in constant fear of her life.;Tirelessly campaigning on Dee's behalf was Michelle, her 21-old-daughter, the British Government in London and the British Embassy in Baghdad. Michelle's visits were a lifeline. But by the time of her unexpected release, just a year after her arrest, Dee had become so institutionalized that she was barely able to leave.;In this story, Dee Parish shares her experiences.