Iranian Dissident Is Free and Still Fiery

Iran’s most prominent dissident emerged from six years in prison, promising Saturday to remain defiant. But Akbar Ganji -- now so gaunt that even some of his friends failed to recognize him -- is returning to a political scene in which hard-liners have all but silenced Iran’s reform movement.

Ganji was imprisoned in 2000 after he angered Iran’s ruling clerics with a series of articles that accused Intelligence Ministry agents of killing five dissidents. He also called for the ouster of a supreme cleric.

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 waged a hunger strike for three months last year, prompting calls from President Bush and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his release. The regime rejected those pleas. Ganji was freed Friday, days short of his scheduled release.

Since his arrest, elections put hard-liners in control of parliament and ultra-conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the presidency. Reformists have been purged from government, and dozens of pro-reform newspapers have been shut down, while others have been cowed into toning down their criticisms.

The 46-year-old Ganji on Saturday welcomed dozens of friends and relatives at his Tehran home.

“My views have not changed at all,” Ganji told the gathering. “Jail and pressures never forced me to change my views. Today, I’m more determined to say what I said six years ago. My imprisonment was unjust and will remain a great injustice forever.”

But many at the gathering advised Ganji to lie 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.

A statement by Iran’s judiciary said Ganji was freed on leave for Nowruz, the Persian New Year holiday, which begins Tuesday and runs until April 3. The statement said his sentence would officially end March 30.