Prisoners of Conscience

October 15, 2008

Adnan Hassanpour (27), arrested on January 25, 2007, is a Kurdish journalist facing a death sentence following an unfair trial. ...

October 15, 2008

Ali Kantouri, arrested on November 3, 2008, is a student activist. He is held in Evin prison. Kantouri and more than 60 other students were arrested during a nationwide sweep between November 2007 and January 2008. ...

October 15, 2008

Peyman Piran, arrested in November 2007, is a political dissident and student activist. He is held in Evin prison and has reportedly been subjected to ill-treatment to make false confessions. ...

October 1, 2008

Emad Baghi (45), a prominent human rights defender, is serving a one- year sentence for articles he wrote a decade before, and for which he already spent three years in prison on the same charges. He is the founder of the Center for Defense of ...

September 4, 2008

Hadi Hamidi Shafigh (23) is an architecture student at Orumieh’s Azad University. Arrested on December 11, 2007, he is serving a 17- month prison term for “participating in an illegal gathering” and possession of material deemed “insulting to the Supreme Leader.” ...

September 4, 2008

Ehsan Mansouri, political secretary of the Islamic Association at Amir Kabir University, was arrested after security agents raided his parent’s house on May 29, 2007. Security forces arrested Mansouri, Ahmad Ghasaban, and Majid Tavakoli along with five other students following a week of unrest ...

May 5, 2008

Abbas Khorsandi, a political activist held in Evin Prison, is sentenced to eight years in prison solely for his political beliefs and internet writings. ...

April 7, 2008

(April 7, 2008) Mahmoud Salehi completed his one-year prison sentence on March 23, 2008. However, local judiciary officials refused to release him and instead brought new charges against him relating to letters he published while in prison months ago. According to his lawyer, Mohammad Sharif, ...

April 5, 2008

Kambiz Hosseini (28) is a follower of Ayatollah Boroujerdi’s who was first arrested in October 2006 and sentenced to 18 months in prison. He is currently being held in Evin Prison. ...

April 5, 2008

Ali Arbabi (38) is a follower of Ayatollah Boroujerdi’s who was first arrested in October 2006. He was sentenced to 2 years in prison and is being held in Evin Prison. ...

April 5, 2008

Mehrdad Soori (36) is an electrical technician and follower of Ayatollah Boroujerdi’s who was first arrested in October 2006. He was sentenced to 2 years in prison. He is currently being held in Evin Prison. ...

April 5, 2008

Majid Alsati (35) has a Master’s degree in development and is a follower of Ayatollah Boroujerdi’s. He was first arrested in October 2006 and is serving a 4-year imprisonment in exile sentence in Zanjan. ...

April 5, 2008

Habib Ghovati (30), has a Master’s degree in accounting. He is a follower of Ayatollah Boroujerdi’s who was first arrested in October 2006. He is married and currently serving a 4-year imprisonment in exile sentence in Hamadan. ...

April 5, 2008

Alireza Montazer (37) is married with one child and is serving a 4-year imprisonment in exile sentence in Kermanshah. He is a follower of Ayatollah Boroujerdi’s who was first arrested in October 2006. ...

April 5, 2008

Massoud Samavatyan (47) has a Master’s degree in literature. He is a follower of Ayatollah Boroujerdi’s who was first arrested in October 2006. He has two children and is serving a 5-year imprisonment in exile sentence in Khoramabad. ...

March 30, 2008

Reza Daghestani (27), detained on February 21, 2008, is an Azerbaijani activist. Intelligence agents raided his house and confiscated his books and personal computer. He is at risk of being tortured. ...

March 28, 2008

Morteza Khedmatloo, arrested on January 14, 2008, is a student activist. He is held in Evin prison. Khedmatloo and more than 60 other students were arrested during a nationwide sweep between November 2007 and January 2008. ...

March 27, 2008

Behzad Bagheri, arrested on December 14, 2007, is a student activist. Intelligence agents arrested Bagheri and more than 60 other students during a nationwide sweep last November to January. ...

March 27, 2008

Soroosh Dashtestani, arrested on January 14, 2008, is a student activist. He is held in Evin prison. Dashtestani and more than 60 other students were arrested during a nationwide sweep between November 2007 and January 2008. ...

March 26, 2008

Ejlal Ghavami, serving a three year sentence, is a journalist in the Western province of Kurdistan. He was arrested on July 9, 2007. Ghavami is a member of the editorial board of Payam Mardom (People’s Message). On June 9, 2007, Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court ...

March 13, 2008

Alireza Matinpour, brother of the Azerbaijani journalist, Saeed Matinpour, was detained on August 28, 2008. He was held for more than six months. The authorities released him on bail in amount of one billion Rials ($110,000). ...

March 13, 2008

Leila Heidari, a political activist, was detained on August 28, 2007, after she went to Zanjan prison to visit her detained husband, Behrouz Safari. She was released in early March 2008 after posting bail in amount of 800 million Rials ($88,000). ...

March 13, 2008

Behrouz Safari, detained in late May 2007, is a political activist from the city of Zanjan. After several months of detention, the authorities released him on bail in the amount of 800 million Rials ($88,000) in March 2008. During the first five months of Safari’s detention, ...

March 11, 2008

(28 February 2008) Jalil Ghaniloo (30), arrested by intelligence agents on May 26, 2007 in Zanjan, is a freelance journalist and political activist. He is being held without charge. Authorities have denied him access to a lawyer. According to Ghaniloo’s brother, Tavakol Ghaniloo, his arrest is ...

March 11, 2008

Saeed Matinpour (32), arrested on May 25, 2007, is an Azerbaijani journalist and human rights defender. He is held without charge; denied access to a lawyer; and is reportedly subjected to ill-treatment and torture. Intelligence agents held him in solitary confinement for 205 days to ...