About Amir Fakhravar
Amir Abbas Fakhravar (born 1974 or 1975) is an Iranian political activist and dissident. He is the founder and senate chairman of the National Iranian Congress (NIC) an organization opposing the Islamic Republic regime in Iran. He is a former research fellow at the Center for the Study of Culture and Security at The Institute of World Politics. Fakhravar served as the Secretary General of the Confederation of Iranian Students and President of the "Iranian Freedom Institute" in Washington, D.C. == Life in Iran == === Activities === Fakhravar was a student leader during Iran student protests, July 1999. In 2006, he testified on Capitol Hill and was invited to attend a meeting at the White House. === Imprisonment === An Amnesty International press release published in 2004, designates Fakhravar as a prisoner of conscience who was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment for defamation charges in November 2002, because of comments he made on Iranian authorities in his book, This Place is Not a Ditch. The statement further adds sometime between January and February 2004, he was held at Ward 325, where he was reportedly subject to solitary confinement and white torture, before being granted a 2-days furlough on or around 8 February 2004. According to the same release, he was moved to Qasr prison upon his return and on or around 21 March, he was given another leave lasting 19 days for the new year holidays, as part of an annual temporary release of prisoners. On 17 July 2005, Eli Lake interviewed Fakhravar while on temporary release, in which he said, "I forgot to report back to prison" and that he was going to ignore his arrest warrant. In October 2005, RFE/RL reported that Fakhravar had been on leave since June of the same year, and has told them about his decision to refuse to return to prison and his sister of being informed at the court that government forces are authorized to shoot him on sight.
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