Kouhyar Goudarzi

Kouhyar Goudarzi is an Iranian human rights activist, journalist and blogger who was imprisoned several times by the government of Iran.

He previously served as an editor of Radio Zamane.

He is a member of Committee of Human Rights Reporters (CHRR), serving as the head from 2005-2009.

He was detained twice in 2006 during peaceful rallies and three times after the events following the disputed presidential election results of 2009.

Goudarzi was first arrested in March 2006 on International Women's Day as he was taking pictures during a rally with Shiva Nazarahari and they were released soon after.

He was detained again in May 2006 on International Workers' Day while attending a Tehran Bus Company rally.

He had disclosed to the Associated Press that a political prisoner, Akbar Mohammadi had died in prison after going on hunger strike to protest the lack of proper medical care.

Goudarzi was an aerospace engineering student at Sharif University of Technology before being expelled in November 2009 by order of government authorities and barred from continuing his education.

Goudarzi was detained a third time in the summer of 2009 during the street protests after the disputed presidential election results, and was released after a short period.

He continued to take an active part in the 2009–2010 Iranian election protests, in which he joined other student activists in protesting the disputed victory of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi.

On December 20, 2009 Goudarzi was among a group that was detained by regime forces as they were travelling to the city of Qom to attend the funeral services of the senior dissident cleric Ayatollah Montazeri.

Goudarzi had reportedly angered Iranian authorities due to his human rights work and contents in his blog specifically asking for the release of jailed members of Committee of Human Rights Reporters (CHRR).

Goudarzi and other members of Committee of Human Rights Reporters were put under heavy pressure through physical and psychological intimidation while in custody, to shut down the group's website.

Goudarzi was denied access to his lawyer or his case file and was further harassed by being barred from visitation or phone calls, denied books and clothes, and being switched from cell to cell.

His relatives revealed that he had sustained injuries during harsh interrogations requiring his head to be bandaged.

Goudarzi told relatives that he was under immense pressure to accept false accusations made by intelligence personnel demanding that he "confess" to alliances with banned organizations.

In August 2010, Goudarzi joined Majid Tavakoli and other imprisoned activists in a hunger strike to protest conditions in Evin prison, where they were detained.

In retaliation Goudarzi, Tavakoli and other journalists who had launched a hunger strike were transferred to solitary confinement.

Goudarzi and Tavakoli were among 17 political prisoners who went on hunger strike.

After his transfer to solitary confinement in May 2010, Goudarzi's mother said that she was no longer allowed to see him.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a statement on June 12, 2010 demanded the release of Goudarzi and other incarcerated activists in Iran stating, “The Iranian authorities responded to their citizens’ call for accountability and transparency with violence, arbitrary detentions, dubious trials, and intimidation.” She called for "the immediate release of all imprisoned human rights defenders," naming Goudarzi and six other jailed activists.

Initially charged with the capital crime of moharebeh (waging war against God), Goudarzi was later charged instead with "spreading propaganda against the regime" and was handed a one-year prison sentence.

He was released in December of the same year after serving his sentence.

Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch said about the charges against Goudarzi, “The authorities should be working to ensure the rights and safety of citizens exercising their rights to gather peacefully.

Instead, they are preparing the groundwork to impose the harshest of punishments.”

Goudarzi spent 10 months in Tehran's Evin Prison with periods in solitary confinement, and was transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj, where he served the remainder of his prison term before being released upon serving his one-year sentence on December 14, 2010.

During his prison term, Goudarzi was awarded the John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award from the US-based National Press Club.

On July 31, 2011 Goudarzi was violently arrested without warning by plainclothes officials.

His flatmate and fellow blogger Behnam Ganji Khaibari was arrested as well.

Goudarzi's mother Parvin Mokhtareh was arbitrarily detained as well the following day in the city of Kerman, for reasons said to stem from her advocacy on her son's behalf.

Ganji was released a few weeks after the initial arrests.

Friends described him as a "broken man" and stated that he and Goudarzi had been severely tortured.

Following their release, Ganji and another friend of Goudarzi, Nahal Sahabi committed suicide on September 1, 2011 and September 28, 2011 respectively.

The UK newspaper The Guardian reported following the suicides that "speculation is rife that the pair had been pressured while in jail to testify against Goudarzi".

Amnesty International also reported that Ganji had been pressured to make a confession incriminating Goudarzi.

It was reported that in the days following his detainment, a number of Kouhyar Goudarzi's friends and colleagues were summoned to present themselves at the offices of the Ministry of Intelligence for interrogation.

For months, Iranian officials refused to acknowledge Goudarzi's arrest, and his whereabouts remained unknown.

Authorities were reported to be attempting to fabricate evidence linking Goudarzi to the militant Islamic group People's Mujahedin of Iran.

When they finally acknowledged his arrest, authorities denied Goudarzi's lawyer's requests to meet with him.

They provided no information as to why he was arrested while deprived of his basic rights or why his mother was simultaneously detained in Kerman.