Akbar Ganji
Described as one of Iran's leading political dissidents, Ganji's writings are banned in the country. Ganji was imprisoned from 2001-2006 for participation in an academic conference and investigations into… More
Sepideh Jodeyri
Jodeyri's translation of Blue Is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh into Persian made her persona non grata in Iran. Already facing a campaign of public persecution for her… More
Narges Mohammadi
Mohammadi, jailed relentlessly by authorities for her writing and advocacy, was freed in 2020, but in May 2021 was again sentenced to 2.5 years in prison and 80 lashes.… More
Hossein Rajabian
Rajabian was arrested in October 2013 with his brother Mehdi in connection with an underground music sharing website that they co-founded. He began serving his sentence in June 2016… More
Baktash Abtin
Poet and filmmaker Abtin, with two other board members of the Iranian Writers Association, was convicted in 2019 for opposing state censorship policies. Abtin's six-year prison sentence was upheld,… More
Kameel Ahmady
Ahmady has written about female genital mutilation and child marriage in Iran and was arrested in 2019. He was arbitrarily detained for 100 days, then released conditionally. In December… More
Keyvan Bajan
Novelist-journalist Bajan was imprisoned on September 27, 2020 and sentenced to three-and-a-half years for his peaceful opposition of state censorship, leadership of the Iranian Writers’ Association, and commemoration of… More
Ibrahim Al-Husseini
In December 2018, Al-Husseini was arrested on charges of "inciting protests" for social media posts criticizing authoritarian rule and religious extremism in Egypt. He was released on bail in… More
Ismail Alexandrani
Alexandrani is a researcher and journalist who studies extremism and counterterrorism in the North Sinai. He was arrested in November 2015 and charged with baseless crimes, including “publishing government… More
Hesham Gaafar
Gaafar was detained without warrant in October 2015 for suspected involvement with the banned Muslim Brotherhood. He was held for 41 months in pretrial detention, often under prolonged solitary… More