Heather Marie Mercer (born 1976) is an American who was one of 24 aid workers arrested in August 2001 by the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

in connection with their work with the Germany-based Christian aid organization

Shelter Now International Shelter Now (also known as ''Shelter Now International'' and ''SNI'') is an international Christian humanitarian aid organization based in Germany and with operations focused in Afghanistan. ''Shelter Now'' began its work in the late 1970s, but ...

. She, along with seven other Western aid workers and their sixteen Afghan coworkers, was arrested on August 3, 2001, and put on trial for violating the Taliban prohibition against

proselytism Proselytism () is the policy of attempting to convert people's religious or political beliefs. Proselytism is illegal in some countries. Some draw distinctions between ''evangelism'' or '' Da‘wah'' and proselytism regarding proselytism as invol ...

. She was held captive in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

until anti-Taliban forces freed her in November 2001. She co-authored a book with her fellow captive,

Dayna Curry Dayna Curry (born November 4, 1971) is an American citizen, who was held a prisoner by Taliban government of Afghanistan in 2001. She befriended fellow aid worker Heather Mercer while attending Antioch Community Church in Waco, Texas. In 2001 the ...

, published in 2002 and entitled ''Prisoners of hope: the story of our captivity and freedom in Afghanistan.''

Afghan trial

Mercer arrived in Afghanistan in March 2001. She and another American,

, were working for a

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

-based aid group called

. On August 3, 2001, the Taliban arrested the two women. After their arrest, the Taliban raided the group's offices and arrested the six other aid workers that Mercer and Curry were teamed up with. Their trial began on September 1, 2001. On September 13 the trial was suspended and relatives of the detained aid workers were ordered to leave the country. The trial resumed on September 30. On October 6, the Taliban made an offer to release Mercer and Curry, if the United States stopped its military action against Afghanistan. During her captivity, she met the British journalist

Yvonne Ridley Yvonne Ridley (born 23 April 1958) is a British journalist, author and politician who holds several committee positions with the Alba Party in Scotland. She was a former chair of the National Council of the now-defunct Respect Party. Ridley m ...

, who was arrested near the Pakistan border and brought to the same prison in Kabul. Yvonne Ridley informed her about September 11 and the subsequent military actions against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. On November 15, the women, along with the six other imprisoned aid workers, were freed from prison by anti-Taliban forces and flown to safety in Islamabad, Pakistan. After their release, and upon their return to the U.S., Mercer and Curry met with President George W. Bush at the White House on November 26, 2001.

Afghan trial

References

Further reading