Trying to define Bravery, learn about these three 'peaceful' Freedom Fighters

Jabbar Savalan was jailed after calling for protests against the Azerbaijan government on Facebook.


A day after posting a Facebook message calling for protests against the government, Jabbar Savalan was brought to a police station for questioning. Police conveniently "discovered" marijuana in his outer coat pocket, and after reportedly hitting and intimidating Jabbar without a lawyer present, they coerced him into signing a confession. Jabbar maintains he does not use drugs and that the marijuana was planted on him. Authorities in Azerbaijan have a history of using trumped-up drug charges to jail those seen as critical of the government. Amnesty International believes the charges against Jabbar were fabricated, and considers him a prisoner of conscience.

Behareh Hedayat and Majid Tavakkoli

Iran
Behareh Hedayat and Majid Tavakkoli are serving long prison sentences for seeking for greater freedom in Iran. Majid was arrested and reportedly beaten by authorities in December 2009, after addressing a university rally in Tehran. Behareh was arrested later that month and charged with several offenses, including "insulting the leader" and "insulting the president." The two student leaders last year issued a joint statement from prison, encouraging others to continue to push for change in Iran. In response, authorities extended each of their prison sentences by another six months.