Iranian democratist Ahmad Batebi, whose 1999 imprisonment propelled his countenance to the iconic vanguard of his country's liberal revolution, refused to become one of the Disappeared, and recently traded captivity for fugitive status:
In a recent phone interview with National Review Online, Batebi explained (through a translator) why he opted to risk his life in hiding rather than return to prison. Since his escape he has been working to organize the opposition, in part with direction from dissidents still in prison who communicate to him through smuggled letters. He also wants to communicate to the West, and particularly leaders and citizens of the United States, about conditions inside Iran.
His message? Iranians long for freedom and will do what they can to attain it. Because enemies of the Iranian people, fascist mullahs and terrorists, are ours, Western governments — most of them idling while a nascent atomic Tehran negotiates in bad faith — would serve both national interest and moral obligation by turning to Iranian liberals.