A/HRC/25/61 Foad Sajoodi Farimani Student activist Mr. Farimani was publicly advertising his beliefs about religion, where he was a PhD student. He was arrested for this in front of his university on September 2010 by plainclothes officers. He was “scared that they would arrest and disappear him,” so he ran inside the university building so that they would have to get “real police to arrest him.” But they pursued him, they pushed him against the wall, pulled him up from the floor, handcuffed him, and held a gun to his head. They took him to Evin Prison, which relieved him because it’s an “official prison.” He had no lawyer, no charges were presented to him, and he was put in solitary confinement for more than 40 days (in a 2 by 1.5 meter room). One of his interrogators asked why he did not necessarily believe in (the Governmentapproved version of) Islam. He tried to make the argument for it, and one of them put a rope around his neck and pulled to the side. “This was mental torture,” according to Mr. Farimani. “When you have a physical wound, you can see a scar, but when you have a mental wound you can’t see it.” He was sentenced to five years for blasphemy, additional time for acting against national security, and three months for each political figure he insulted. (The Revolutionary Guards had actually asked the prosecutor to seek the death penalty for blasphemy). After 105 days, he was released on five million tuman bail, which a family member eventually had to pay for by selling his house. “There’s no difference between keeping me in jail or forcing me to work 12 hours a day to pay off a debt; either way I can’t carry out my human rights work.” Mr. “Jamshid” Filmmaker Mr. “Jamshid” left Iran in after the 2009 election crisis. Before that, he had been working with a western filmmaker. During the election, he was filming others and was beaten by forces in the street and taken to the Interior Ministry. He was quickly released. A few days after his arrest, Mr. Jamshid received a suspicious and threatening phone call, so he looked to flee the country. Just a few weeks ago (December 2013) a friend of his was arrested and was asked about his whereabouts. He is worried, therefore, that authorities are still interested in his case. Bardia Taherpour Political activist Mr. Bardia Taherpour left Iran three years ago. He had been politically active in Iran for 10-12 years before leaving Iran. He began his activities one year before university, then went to Dubai after university, returned to Iran, and was arrested upon return. 78