Video Witness Statement of Ahmad Batebi

Ahmad Batebi is one of the most famous Iranian political prisoners of the post-revolutionary era. Batebi, a student activist at the time, was jailed for his participation in the 1999 student demonstrations at the University of Tehran. At the height of the protests, a photograph of Batebi made its way onto the cover of The Economist magazine. But the high visibility of his case garnered by the magazine cover did not prevent the authorities from subjecting him to severe torture and a long prison sentence. In all, Batebi spent over eight years of a fifteen-year sentence behind bars before escaping Iran during a medical furlough from Evin Prison. In this video, Batebi discusses his case and prison conditions during his eight years of detention.