TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's most prominent dissident emerged from six years in prison, promising Saturday to remain defiant. But Akbar Ganji — now with a bushy beard and so gaunt even some of his friends failed to recognize him — is returning to a political scene where hard-liners have all but silenced Iran's reform movement.
Ganji was imprisoned in 2000 after angering Iran's ruling clerics with a series of articles accusing Intelligence Ministry agents of killing five dissidents and calling for the end of absolute rule by a top cleric — currently supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The articles made Ganji a hero of Iran's reform movement, which at the time still dominated the elected government, including the presidency and parliament. He held a hunger strike for three months last year, prompting calls from President Bush and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his release — which the regime rejected.
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Since his arrest, hard-liners took over parliament and pro-reform President Mohammad Khatami was replaced in elections last year by ultra-conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has moved to purge reformists from government. Dozens of pro-reform newspapers have been shut down and those that remain have largely been cowed into toning down their criticisms.
The 46-year-old Ganji was released from prison Friday after serving most of his six-year sentence, and on Saturday he welcomed dozens of friends and relatives at his Tehran home.
"Where is Akbar Ganji?" one friend asked, not realizing that the dramatically thinner and bearded man standing next to him was Ganji.
"My views have not changed at all. Jail and pressures never forced me to change my views. Today, I'm more determined to say what I said six years ago," Ganji told the gathering. "My imprisonment was unjust and will remain a great injustice forever."
But many at the gathering advised Ganji to lay low — including his wife, Masoumeh Shafiei, who passed out sweets to the well-wishers.
"My husband is so weak physically now. He is just 108 pounds. But I'm happy he is back home," she said. "He needs rest, please don't put too many questions to him. He's not going to be so outspoken."
"No, I'm more radical than before," Ganji interrupted.
"We don't want him put back in prison," Shafiei said with a laugh. "My daughters need their father. We have suffered a lot." Ganji has two teenage daughters.
A statement by Iran's judiciary said Ganji was freed on leave for Nowruz, the Persian New Year holiday, which begins Tuesday.
The holiday runs until April 3, and the statement said his prison sentence officially ends March 30, so it appeared unlikely Ganji would be taken back into custody.
One prominent reform journalist, Fariba Davoudi Mohajer, said a defiant Ganji will energize reformers who still see him as a hero.
"Ganji will shine in Iran's history as a brave investigative journalist who didn't compromise his findings and did not give in," she said. "His defiance injects new energy into the … reformist press."
But Ganji's options for raising his voice may be limited. Reformist newspapers will likely be hesitant to publish his writings, fearing closure by the authorities.
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