Arzhang Davoodi (; born October 10, 1953) is an Iranian democracy activist, teacher, and author.

Early life

Davoodi was arrested in October 2003 after criticizing human rights conditions in Iran in the documentary '' Forbidden Iran'', particularly the death in custody of Canadian-Iranian photojournalist

Zahra Kazemi Zahra "Ziba" Kazemi-Ahmadabadi (; 1948 – 11 July 2003) was an Iranian-Canadian freelance photojournalist. She gained notoriety for her arrest in Iran and the circumstances in which she was held by Iranian authorities, in whose custody she wa ...

. He was tried in 2005 by the

Islamic Revolutionary Court Islamic Revolutionary Court (), also known as the Revolutionary Tribunal (''Dadgahha-e Enqelab''Bakhash, Shaul, ''Reign of the Ayatollahs'', Basic Books, 1984, p.59-61) is a special system of courts in the Islamic Republic of Iran designed to try ...

for "spreading propaganda against the system" and "establishing and directing an organization opposed to the government". The court found him guilty and sentenced him to 15 years' imprisonment and 75

lashes Lashes may refer to: * Lashes, a form of Flagellation Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, Birching, rods, Switch (rod), switches, the cat o' ni ...

; as of August 2012, the latter part of his sentence had not been implemented.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

protested the sentence, designating Davoodi a

prisoner of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...

. Davoodi served portions of his sentence in several different prisons, including

Evin Prison Evin Prison () is a prison located in the Evin neighborhood of Tehran, Iran. The prison has been the primary site for detaining Iran's political prisoners since 1972, before and after the Iranian Revolution, in a purpose-built wing nicknamed "E ...

. In 2005, he joined fellow prisoners Bina Darab-Zand, Hojjat Zamani, Mehrdad Lohrasbi, Farzad Hamidi, and Jaafar Iqdami in a hunger strike to protest their confinement with violent offenders in Rajaii Shahr.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

called the six "political prisoners", "being held for no reason other than their expression of peaceful political views", and urged that they be released. In August 2012, a new charge of "enmity against God", which carries a possible death sentence, was brought against Davoodi. Amnesty International stated that the charge appeared to be linked to the release by CIS of a recording in which Davoodi called for "freedom and democracy".

References

Living people 1950s births Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Iran Iranian democracy activists Iranian dissidents Iranian prisoners and detainees Political prisoners in Iran Year of birth missing (living people) {{Iran-activist-stub