Chapter 14

The courtroom came to order at 3:00 p.m., and Judge Carlton directed Farid’s lawyer to call her next witness.

“The petitioner calls Imam Hassan Reza,” she said.

Jack rose, addressing the court, though his question was for opposing counsel. “Your Honor, for the sake of clarity: Is this

the same imam who was unavailable yesterday?”

“Judge, the answer to Mr. Swyteck’s question is yes,” said Beech. “Fortunately, the imam is available now via videoconference.”

Jack found it interesting that only after their second witness blew up in Farid’s face was the “unavailable” imam suddenly

available.

The imam’s image appeared on the LCD screen, and the witness was sworn. The imam was dressed in the traditional black camel-hair

robe with a blue jacket underneath. His crown-style turban was the same type made popular by the hardline lawmaker Mahmoud

Nabavian. The imam was a calm, poised witness, answering Beech’s questions in English, though his accent was thick.

“Imam Reza, do you know the petitioner, Farid Bazzi?”

“Yes, very well.”

“Did you play any role in connection with his marriage to Zahra Bazzi?”

“Yes. I presided at their wedding ceremony.”

“When was that?”

“It will be two years this coming January. The fifteenth of January.”

“Did you play any role in his divorce from either Ava Bazzi or Zahra Bazzi?”

“Yes. I served as a witness on Farid’s behalf in his divorce both from his first wife, Ava, and his second wife, Zahra.”

“Explain to the court how the divorce process works, please.”

“Under Islamic law, a man can divorce his wife by so stating, verbally, in the presence of two ‘just men’ as witnesses. I

was one of those ‘just men’ to bear witness to Farid’s pronouncement of divorce as to both of his wives, first for Ava and

then later for Zahra.”

“When was Farid’s divorce from his first wife, Ava?”

“She was arrested in mid-October. The divorce was approximately six weeks later, the first day of December.”

“In his divorce from Ava, did Farid state a reason for the divorce?”

Jack rose. “Your Honor, I would ask the court to direct the witness to answer that question with either a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.”

“Point taken,” said the judge. “The witness shall give a one-word response.”

“Yes,” the imam said.

“As to Ava Bazzi, what did Farid state as the reason for the divorce?”

Jack was back on his feet. “Objection. Hearsay.”

“You’re technically right, Mr. Swyteck. But the rules regarding hearsay do not apply in Hague proceedings. Ms. Beech, what’s

your response?”

“What you just said,” she quipped. “Plus, Farid made the statement to Allah in the presence of an imam, and the imam is testifying

under an oath to God.”

“The statement does seem trustworthy,” the judge said. “The witness may answer.”

The imam paused, making sure the back-and-forth between lawyers was over, then answered. “Farid stated that the reason for

his divorce from Ava was abandonment.”

Bomb number one had just hit its mark. Testimony from a holy man that supported the Iranian regime’s position: Ava Bazzi was

alive and well, having fled the country after abandoning her husband and daughter. As for the Hague proceeding, Zahra’s adoption

of Yasmin was a nullity.

The carpet-bombing campaign continued. “Imam Reza, let me ask you now about the second divorce. What grounds did Farid state

in support of his divorce from Zahra?”

The imam looked directly at the camera, his dark eyes clouded with cataracts. “Divorce was warranted because the marriage was never consummated.”

Bomb number two: Zahra’s marriage to Farid was a fraud, all part of her premeditated plan to adopt and then abduct his daughter.

Whether Ava was dead or alive, Zahra’s adoption of Yasmin was void. Jack had to find a way to continue the fight.

“Judge, I move to strike the response.”

“On what grounds?” the judge asked.

Zahra tugged at her lawyer’s elbow. Jack asked the judge for a moment to confer, and Zahra whispered into his ear. “Don’t

object,” she said. “It’s true. Farid and I never...”

Jack glanced across the courtroom at Farid. He was staring down at the table, embarrassed—as any man would have been—by the

truth.

Jack rose slowly to address the court. He would have been a fool to stand on his objection, only to have Zahra confirm the

imam’s testimony later in the case, when she took the stand.

“Your Honor, I withdraw my objection.”

“Very well,” the judge said. “The testimony is admitted as evidence.”

Beech appeared satisfied. “I have no further questions.”

“Cross-examination, Mr. Swyteck?”

Lack of consummation didn’t conclusively establish that the marriage was a fraud, but the imam had done serious damage to

Zahra’s defense, and Jack had to repair it.

“Yes, Your Honor,” said Jack, and then he turned to the witness on the screen.

“Imam Reza, I’m told by my client that some members of your mosque refer to you not as imam but as mullah. Is that true?”

“Some do, yes.”

“In Tehran, the term mullah is sometimes used to describe clerics who adhere to a literal interpretation of Islamic law. Isn’t that true?”

“That is generally true,” he said.

“Is it fair to say that you adhere to a literal interpretation of Islamic law?”

“I would not deny that statement.”

“Under Islamic law, a divorced man or a widower is allowed to remarry, correct?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Is it also true that, in the case of divorce, Islamic law has very specific rules on how long a divorced man must wait before

he can remarry?”

“I believe you are referring to what Islamic law refers to as iddah . That is a three-month waiting period. Normally, this waiting period applies only to a divorced woman, not to a divorced

man.”

“Under what circumstances does the waiting period apply to a divorced man?” asked Jack.

“Only if the man intends to marry the sister of the divorced wife. In such a case, he will need to wait for the iddah to expire because a man is not allowed to be married to two sisters at the same time under the principles of Islam and sharia.”

Jack was out of his depth on the nuances of Islamic law, but so far, so good.

“Let me make sure I understand,” said Jack. “In a situation where a divorced man seeks to marry the sister of the divorced

wife, at least three months would have to pass before you would perform the wedding ceremony. Correct?”

“That’s correct,” he said.

“Let’s look at the timeline for Farid Bazzi’s situation, specifically. Farid’s wife Ava was arrested two years ago this month.

The seventeenth of October. Will you accept that representation?”

“Yes. That sounds right. I will accept that date.”

“And as the story goes, Ava Bazzi fled the country soon after that date, abandoning her husband and her daughter.”

“That’s correct.”

“As you testified earlier, Farid Bazzi then sought divorce on grounds of abandonment, correct?”

“Yes.”

“You also testified that Mr. Bazzi’s divorce from Ava was final on the first of December. So how long would he have to wait before marrying Ava’s sister, Zahra?”

“Three months. The first of March.”

“But you performed the wedding for Zahra and Farid on the fifteenth of January, did you not?”

The imam froze, the wheels clearly spinning in his head. But Jack had put him in a tight spot: he couldn’t deny the marriage

date with both Zahra and Farid in the courtroom. “Yes. It was the fifteenth of January.”

Jack paused, then made his point. “It appears that one of two things is true, Imam Reza. One possibility is that you performed

a wedding ceremony in violation of Islamic law. That’s not something you would do lightly, is it?”

“No, of course not.”

“The other possibility is that your actions were completely appropriate under Islamic law.”

“My goal is that all my actions are appropriate under Islamic law.”

“Naturally,” said Jack. “Even though iddah —the waiting period—ran until the first day of March, you acted in accordance with Islamic law in performing the wedding ceremony

on the fifteenth of January, correct?”

“I hope so. If not, I would ask for forgiveness.”

“No forgiveness is needed,” said Jack. “Your actions were in accordance with Islamic law, because you knew Farid was not subject

to the iddah waiting period. Is that correct?”

“I don’t understand your question.”

“When you performed the wedding ceremony in January, you knew Farid was not a divorced man.”

“I was the witness at his divorce.”

“You performed his wedding ceremony in January because you knew Farid was a widower . A widower is not subject to the waiting period of iddah , correct? Imam Reza, when you performed that wedding ceremony in January, you knew Ava Bazzi was dead, didn’t you ?”

“Objection!” Beech shouted.

“Grounds?” asked the judge.

Beech struggled for an answer, and she seemed to be reaching into the same bag of tricks that Jack had explored minutes earlier,

only to come up with the same last-ditch defense. “It’s... prejudicial, Your Honor.”

“I suppose that’s true,” said the judge. “I can’t imagine that Mr. Swyteck is trying to help your case. Overruled.”

Jack checked his notes, but there was no more work to do. The Iranian government could spin the political story however it

liked. Farid Bazzi and his lawyer could spin the evidence however they liked. But Jack’s questioning had put the mullah in

a box. And in that figurative box lay the truth, as Jack saw it: Ava Bazzi was dead.

“No further questions, Your Honor,” said Jack, and he returned to his seat.