Ahmad Batebi

Ahmad Batebi was born in May 1977 in Shiraz. While he was studying theatre at the University of Tehran, he got involved in activities supporting human rights and democracy. 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.
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. It dramatically showed the reality of human rights violation by the Iranian regime to the world. Following its publication, Mr. Batebi was arrested by Iranian security forces and sentenced to death. Because of an outcry from Iranians and international human rights groups, his death sentence was commuted to a 15-year imprisonment.
After serving approximately nine years of his prison sentence, Mr. Batebi’s physical and mental health had deteriorated quite greatly. He was reported to have suffered two brain strokes over the course of a few days. While temporarily released from prison to receive medical attention, he fled the country into Iraq. With the assistance of human rights activists, Mr. Batebi was granted asylum in the United States on June 24th 2008.
With the help of his friends, Ahmad Batebi has founded a human rights organization: Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI). He believes that human rights are the foundation to free society and vital to the wellbeing of all people.
Ahmad Batebi has focused his activities on human rights in Iran and its neighboring countries. Mr. Batebi is the primary spokesman of HRAI.