21 Facts About Akbar Ganji

Akbar Ganji is an Iranian journalist, writer and a former member of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Akbar Ganji has been described as "Iran's best-known political prisoner".

Akbar Ganji grew up in a devout, impoverished family in Tehran.

Akbar Ganji has written extensively as a journalist in a series of reformist newspapers, many of which were shut down by the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Possibly Akbar Ganji's most famous work was a series of articles in Saeed Hajjarian's Sobh Emrouz daily about the 1998 murders of dissident authors known as the Chain Murders of Iran.

In December 2000, after his arrest, Akbar Ganji announced the "Master Key" to the chain of murders was former Intelligence Minister Hojjatoleslam Ali Fallahian.

Akbar Ganji " denounced by name some senior clerics, including Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi for having encouraged or issued fatwas, or religious orders for the assassinations".

Akbar Ganji took part in a conference in Berlin held by the Heinrich Boell Foundation under the title "Iran after the elections" held in the wake of the Majlis elections of February 2000, which resulted in a huge victory by reformist candidates.

Akbar Ganji was represented by a group of lawyers, including Dr Yousef Molaei, Abdolfattah Soltani, and the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Shirin Ebadi.

Akbar Ganji returned to prison voluntarily on 11 June 2005 and started another hunger strike.

Akbar Ganji was released from prison in poor health on 18 March 2006, after serving the full term of his six-year sentence, according to his family and various count-downs set up on many Iranian weblogs.

Akbar Ganji later wrote a second book of his Republican Manifesto in May 2005, ahead of the ninth Presidential elections in Iran, specifically arguing for a complete boycott of the presidential elections.

Akbar Ganji opposed the United States 2003 invasion of Iraq and subsequent occupation.

In 2006, Akbar Ganji started a tour to visit world-leading philosophers, theorists, and human rights activists.

Akbar Ganji aims to introduce Iranian intellectual movements and democratic circles to world-leading thinkers.

Akbar Ganji met many famous figures as Richard Rorty, Noam Chomsky, Anthony Giddens, David Held and Shmuel Noah Eisenstadt.

Akbar Ganji refused to meet with White House officials, citing his belief that current US policies were not helping promote democracy in Iran.

Akbar Ganji said, "You cannot bring democracy to a country by attacking it".

Akbar Ganji added that the war in Iraq was promoting Islamic fundamentalism and hurting movements toward democracy in the region.

Akbar Ganji declared that his role was as a dissident and journalist rather than the official voice for a specific opposition party or faction within Iran, which he explained was one reason for his refusal to meet with US political leaders and officeholders.

Akbar Ganji staged a hunger strike outside of the United Nations headquarters to highlight the plight of Iranian political prisoners, and to bring international attention to the oppressive conditions felt within Iran.