Heshmat Tabarzadi

Heshmatollah Tabarzadi (; born March 21, 1959) is an Iranian democratic activist. Tabarzadi has been arrested several times on charges related to his political activities, most recently in December 2009. Tabarzadi was viewed by the government as one of the leaders of the student protests of July 9, 1999.

On the evening of December 27, the day of the 2009 Ashura protests, Tabarzadi was interviewed on Voice of America Persian, stating that the protests were the largest he had ever seen. He also called on protesters to keep the protests nonviolent. Initially, Tabarzadi was held in the political ward 209 of Tehran's Evin Prison. After protesting the execution of five Kurdish activists, he was transferred to Rajaeeshahr prison.

"Heshmatollah Tabarzadi at a rally to protect elections result in Iran. Tabarzadi raised his finger to signal victory in this photo, Tehran, September 2009.

Sentencing

In October 2010, Tabarzadi was convicted of five charges: “insulting the Leader”, “insulting the President”, “propaganda against the system”, “gathering and colluding with intent to harm state security”, and “disturbing public order”.

Amnesty International considers Tabarzadi a prisoner of conscience, and has repeatedly called for his immediate release. Mr. Tabarzadi was arrested at noon on January 15, 2014 by three security officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran.