Ahmad Batebi

This was reduced to 15 years after domestic and international outcry. Less well-known are persistent reports of torture and ill-treatment of Batebi in prison, and his resulting poor physical and mental health. While temporarily released from prison to receive medical attention, Batebi was assisted by the KDPI, to flee Iran for Iraq. He finally entered the United States on June 24, 2008, on humanitarian parole. He was then granted asylum status by the United States government.

While being temporarily released from Evin Prison to receive medical attention, Batebi fled the country into Iraq. Batebi's escape from Iran and eventual transfer to the United States began when he contacted internationally recognized immigration and human rights lawyer and activist, Lily Mazahery, on March 13, 2008, on the then existing Yahoo 360 social media site. He was further assisted by the KDPI and the Kurdish underground network who moved him to the northwestern border with Iraq and then to Arbil. Batebi's lawyer, Lily Mazahery, reported his critical situation in Arbil to the United States government, which provided Humanitarian Parole for his entrance to the U.S. Although Sweden had granted him asylum through UNHCR, after consulting his friends and lawyer in the U.S., Batebi preferred to reside there. On June 23, 2008, Batebi left Iraq for the United States. After a short airport transit through Austria, he arrived in Washington Dulles International Airport on June 24, 2008, where he was escorted by officials from the National Security Council from his plane to the international section of the airport, where the White House officials transferred his custody to his then lawyer, Lily Mazahery.

In February 2007, Batebi was reported to have suffered two brain strokes over the course of a few days, having several seizures on February 16 spending "three hours in a coma" and suffering another two days later after being released from hospital. He was returned to the prison following his second stroke over the reported objections of hospital doctors who are said to have told prison officials that he requires follow up care in a hospital. Following the strokes, Batebi reportedly told his father in a telephone call on February 22 that the prison authorities do not care about him and that if he dies, his father should "hold a celebration of my life, rather than a funeral".

Somaye Bayanat, Batebi's wife, was detained at her house outside Tehran on February 21, 2007. "Her whereabouts are not known to Amnesty International. Amnesty International fears that she may be at risk of intimidation, harassment or ill-treatment because of her connection to Ahmad Batebi."

During a hunger strike in August 2006 "his doctor wrote an open letter to the prison authorities" stating that Batebi "required specialist care", and that "there was a risk he could die if he was not released." Also adding to the fears for his life was the fate of another July 1999 protester, Akbar Mohammadi, who died in custody under suspicious circumstances in July 2006.

By September 20, 2006, his relatives were permitted to visit him in prison three times. During their first two visits, Batebi's family was accompanied by four prison guards, although their third visit, on September 18, was reportedly less heavily supervised. Batebi was not permitted to see his lawyer.

Around March 2005, Batebi was temporarily released from Evin Prison in order to get married. He failed to report back to prison. On June 23, 2005, a newspaper interview reported him "currently on the run, avoiding the authorities in Iran". Batebi was re-arrested on July 27, 2006, and re-imprisoned. He continued to serve his sentence. However, his family was not told where he was detained until August 12, 2006, when he was permitted to telephone his wife.

Following an outcry from Iranians and international human rights groups, his death sentence was commuted to a 15-year prison term by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. Upon appeal in early 2000, the sentence was further reduced to 10 years.

The photo, which has been called "an icon for Iran's student reform movement", was taken during the Iranian Student Protests in July 1999 in Tehran. Following its publishing, Batebi was arrested, tried in closed-door proceedings, found guilty of "creating street unrest", and sentenced to death.

The student protests of 1999 began on July 7 with peaceful demonstrations in Tehran against the closure of the reformist newspaper, Salam. This was followed by an attack on a student dormitory that night by vigilantes and riot police in which a student was killed. This in turn sparked six days of demonstrations and rioting in which at least three more people were killed and more than 200 injured.

Ahmad Batebi (Persian: احمد باطبی ‎; born July 25, 1977) is an Iranian activist who was designated a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. During his studies at the University of Tehran he gained international fame for his appearance on the July 17, 1999, cover of The Economist magazine, holding up a shirt splattered with the blood of a fellow protester.