Behrooz Javid-Tehrani, a student activist turned prisoners’ rights campaigner, was arrested in 2005 following an interview he conducted with another political prisoner, Akbar Mohammadi. The arrest came shortly after Mohammadi died in suspicious circumstances during a hunger strike. After his arrest he was accused of membership in the Mojahedin-e Khalgh by the same judge who made this accusation against the Amir Kabir students listed above. Although his sentence was subsequently commuted and he is now eligible for release on parole, he remains in the infamous Gohar Dasht prison, where several prisoners have died in suspicious circumstances. According to Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, “Behrooz Javid-Tehrani, who is critically ill, is in prison for his peaceful political dissent and his human rights advocacy; he should never have been imprisoned in the first place and he should be released at once or he will likely die in prison.”

It was reported in summer 2009 that Behrooz Javid-Tehrani developed serious health problem as a result of torture and hunger strike. Human Rights Watch has reported fresh bruises and wounds to his body and the loss of 50 percent of his eyesight due to head injuries inflicted by his interrogators in prison.

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