Ahmad Batebi

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Ahmad Batebi, A symbol of Irans reformist movement appeard on the cover of The Economist magazine. He has been in prison since.

Ahmad Batebi (born 1977 in Shiraz, Iran) is an Iranian student who has been imprisoned since the Iranian Student Protests in July 1999. During the protests in the areas surrounding Tehran University, Batebi held up a bloodied shirt belonging to a fellow student who had been beaten by the Basij paramilitaries. The image, pictured right, spread like wildfire ending up on the cover of The Economist magazine. Following the publication of The Economist, Batebi was detained and sentenced to death on charges relating to "endangering national security" following a closed-door trial by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran. His death sentence was later commuted to a 15 year prison term by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei. Upon appeal in early 2000, his sentence was again reduced to 10 years.

In approximately March of 2005, Batebi was temporarily released from Evin Prison in order to get married. He failed to report back to prison. On June 23, 2005 an interview with Ahmad Batebi appeared in the New York Sun newspaper, inside which the article described Batebi as being "currently on the run, avoiding the authorities in Iran".

On 28 June 2005, a Judiciary spokesperson announced that an arrest warrant for Ahmad Batebi had been issued after he had failed to return to prison at the expiry of his leave. Batebi was re-arrested on 27 July 2006. He is continuing to serve his 10-year sentence. However, his family were not told where he was detained till August 12, 2006 when he was permitted to telephone his wife.

He is currently held Section 209 of Evin prison. His family have only been permitted to visit him three times. During their first two visits, Ahmad Batebi's family were accompanied by four prison guards, although their third visit, on 18 September, was reportedly less heavily supervised. Ahmad Batebi is not permitted to see his lawyer.

Ahmad Batebi is reportedly in poor physical and mental health, which is said to be deteriorating. He suffers from a number of medical problems as a result of being tortured and ill-treated during his previous period of detention, including stomach and kidney problems. He has lost some of his teeth, and has permanent hearing problems and poor vision.

Despite the seriousness of his medical condition, prison authorities are allegedly not permitting Ahmad Batebi to receive any medical treatment beyond a few pain killers. According to a press report, Dr Hesam Firouzi, Ahmad Batebi's doctor, wrote to the authorities on 6 August stating that his patient was at risk of paralysis or heart attack, and needed to receive specialist treatment outside prison.