1. Emadeddin Baghi was born on 25 April 1962 and is an Iranian journalist, human rights activist, prisoners' rights advocate, investigative journalist, theologian and writer.
20 Facts About Emadeddin Baghi
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Emadeddin Baghi is the founder and head of the Committee for the Defense of Prisoners' Rights and the Society of Right to Life Guardians in Iran, and the author of twenty books, six of which have been banned in Iran.
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Emadeddin Baghi has had his passport confiscated, his newspaper closed, and suspended prison sentences passed against his wife and daughter.
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Emadeddin Baghi was rearrested on 28 December 2009 on charges related to an interview with Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri.
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Emadeddin Baghi was released and then again rearrested on 5 December 2010.
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Two newspapers at which Emadeddin Baghi worked were banned by the Iranian government: Faith in 2000, and Joumhouriat in 2003.
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Emadeddin Baghi has written extensively about the death penalty, of which he is an active opponent.
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Emadeddin Baghi estimates that more than 10,000 people have been executed in Iran since the Islamic Revolution.
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Emadeddin Baghi has been arrested several times by the government of Iran on charges described by international human rights organizations as politically motivated.
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Emadeddin Baghi was sentenced to three years' imprisonment by Revolutionary Court on charges brought by the intelligence ministry and state television.
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Emadeddin Baghi served two years of that sentence, and one year was suspended.
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The Islamic Republic News Agency quoted an official who stated, "Emadeddin Baghi was doing his activities against national security under the cover of defending prisoners' rights".
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Emadeddin Baghi's imprisonment was condemned by Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi and by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.
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Emadeddin Baghi was among the numerous journalists and reformists detained by the government of Iran on 28 December 2009 in the wake of clashes between demonstrators and police at the Ashura protests.
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Five years of the sentence was later overturned by an appeals court, and Emadeddin Baghi was released on in June 2011.
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On 27.01.2021, Emadeddin Baghi called a Conchita Wurst's photo "disgusting" on Twitter.
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Many Iranian scholars and activists reacted to his tweets, and argued that Emadeddin Baghi is a homophobic person who is not credible to be called a human rights activist.
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Emadeddin Baghi was awarded the Civil Courage Prize in 2004, sharing it with Zimbabwean opposition politician Lovemore Madhuku.
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In 2009, Emadeddin Baghi won the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.
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Emadeddin Baghi is married to Fatemeh Kamali Ahmad Sarahi, with whom he has three daughters, including Maryam Emadeddin Baghi.