Ahmad Batebi, a former student activist and human rights defender serving a ten-year sentence in Evin Prison, Tehran is reportedly in poor physical and mental health and it is said to be deteriorating.
Ahmad Batebi is suffering from a number of medical problems as a result of being tortured and ill treated during his period of detention, including stomach and kidney problems and permanent hearing problems and poor vision. Despite the seriousness of his medical condition, prison authorities are allegedly not permitting Ahmad Batebi to receive any medical treatment beyond a few painkillers. Ahmad Batebi's doctor, wrote to the authorities on 6 August 2006 stating that his patient was at risk of paralysis or heart attack, and needed to receive specialist treatment outside prison.
Ahmad Batebi was originally detained for his student activism in 1999 and sentenced to death on charges relating to "endangering national security" following a closed-door trial by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran. His death sentence was later commuted to a 15-year prison term and in 2000 reduced further to a ten-year prison sentence.
