Ahmed Batebi
Batebi was a 21 year old film student in Tehran when he was arrested at a demonstration protesting the closure of a newspaper Salaam. At the rally, he was photographed holding up the bloody t-shirt of one of his peers who had been beaten by the police. When the Economist magazine ran that photo on its cover, Batebi was charged with "endangering national security" and sentenced to death. International pressure forced the mullahs to reduce his sentence to ten years incarceration. On a brief leave from prison for medical reasons, Batebi went underground, although he later wrote an open letter describing the physical and psychological torture he was made to endure while locked up. The famous photo has been so widely circulated that Batebi has become an icon of the student movement. He has now been recaptured by Iranian security forces and is currently held in the notorious Evin Prison. Batebi has recently launched a hunger strike, and his fate looks grim.

Dr. Fatemeh Haghighatjoo
Haghighatjoo is the youngest woman ever elected to the Iranian parliament. She quickly earned a reputation as a fearlessly outspoken MP after making several provocative speeches before Parliament, exposing human rights abuses, documenting the state-sanctioned crackdown on student protestors, and issuing scathing attacks on powerful political figures. The conservative judiciary slapped her with a 22-month prison sentence for "criticizing the Islamic regime." Nonetheless, she led sit-ins to release students who had been detained without trial, and she boldly urged her fellow MP's to stop feigning democracy with unelected clergy who claimed a right to rule over them. Haghighatjoo was barred from standing for re-election, along with 3,600 other reform candidates. In her resignation speech, Haghighatjoo warned, "I resign… because a staged, dishonest and uncompetitive election was held with the aim of producing a docile Parliament. They do not want a republic, but a Taliban-style Islam." During her speech, a furious cleric stormed the podium to try to block her from finishing her talk. Fortunately, four women MP's blocked them with their bodies. Haghighatjoo's call for accountability has made her a prominent voice for reform in Iran.

Mojtaba Saminejad
Saminejad was arrested for blogging about the arrest of three other bloggers, and charged with "insulting the prophets" and "insulting the Supreme Guide." On June 28, 2005 he was cleared of charges for "insulting the prophets" but must still serve time for "insulting the Supreme Guide." He was released from prison to take his final exams at university, but had to do so wearing handcuffs.

Arash Sigarchi
Iranian blogger and former editor of the daily Gylan Emroz, Sigarchi published an article about a rally in Tehran by families of prisoners executed by the regime. First Arash was arrested and charged with insulting the Supreme Leader, collaborating with the enemy, propaganda against the Islamic State and encouraging people to jeopardize national security. He stayed in jail for 60 days and then received a 14 year sentence. Yet he managed to appeal the decision and leave prison on bail. On January 27, 2006 courts reduced his sentence to three years and all charges were dropped except for "insulting the leader" and "propaganda against the government." He will appeal again to the Iranian Supreme Court.

Akbar Ganji
Known as the Vaclav Havel of Iran, Ganji is an Iranian journalist jailed in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran since 2000 for expressing his opinion in newspaper articles and public conferences. He has gone on several hunger strikes since his incarceration and his unyielding commitment to reform, despite torture and harassment, has made him an international figure of resistance. Ganji wrote articles on a series of murders of Iranian writers, dubbed "chain killings" in Iran, which went as far as to implicate the former President and the former Minister of Intelligence (already convicted by a German court for the killings of Kurdish opposition leaders). The government's own involvement in these deaths are not disputed, as several ministers were forced to resign as a result, but public discussion of such a taboo remains punishable by prison time. Ganji was indicted for "spreading propaganda against the Islamic regime" for his articles. In addition, he was charged with "collecting confidential information that harms national security." Ganji is the longest serving political prisoner in Iran's journalistic community. Since being detained he has written a book, "The Republican Manifesto," that outlines plans to create an open and democratic society, and he has invited his supporters to engage in civil disobedience. As a result, the conservative judiciary has become even more fearful of his rising popularity and more reticent to release a man they have turned into a martyr.

Yashar Hakakpour
Hakakpour, managing director of the student publicationHameey'eh at the University of Zanjan, was arrested for supporting a referendum in Iran. The regime accused him of "insulting the Islamic regime's constitution" and "corrupting public opinion" and closed down the paper on January 21, 2006.