Majid Tavakoli

Majid Tavakoli (Persian مجید توکلی Majid Tawakoli, born 1986 in Shiraz ) is a prominent student leader in Iran. He studied at the Technical University of Amir Kabir in Teheran. Three times he was arrested last December 7, 2009 during the protests following the Iranian presidential elections in 2009. He was in custody photographed in women's clothing with a headscarf, to be thereby lowered as a coward and discredited the student movement. From solidarity to other male students have their photos taken in women's clothing with a headscarf and the photographs set in the Internet.

Tavakoli was awarded, together with another Iranian student leader Abdollah Momeni, from the Czech human rights organization People in Need of Homo Homini Award 2009.

Jailed student of Amir Kabir University Majid Tavakoli was transferred to solitary confinement, and set his started 23 May 2010 hunger strike continued, he had to retire because of health problems after a week. He published a letter and expressed against the execution of Farzad Kamangar and four other prisoners in Tehran. After that he was threatened by the security forces with death. His hunger strike he began after the hunger strike by Iranian director Jafar Panahi.

In January 2010, Tavakoli was sentenced to imprisonment of eight and a half years for " participating in illegal gatherings " and "insulting the Supreme Leader ". In early May 2011, this sentence was extended to nine years because Tavakoli had smuggled out of the prison Gohardascht an open letter to the International Students' Day on 7 December 2010. It had Tavakoli and sentenced to 10 years, also in custody Bahareh Hedayat student activist postulated academic freedom for the Iranian Universities and the Iranian government denounced as " tyranny."

Mid-2011 has assumed a political sponsorship for Majid Tavakoli for the International Society for Human Rights of the MEP Michael Gahler. 2013 Tavakoli was awarded the Norwegian Student Peace Prize.