Zia Nabavi was born in 1983, in Ghaem Shahr, Mazandaran province of Iran. He is currently working on his thesis on “The Prison Experience” for his sociology master’s degree. He has been suspended from his studies three times so far, in 2008, 2018, and in 2022.
In 2008, he was arrested for his activism as part of the committee for advocating the right to study, sentenced to ten years in prison, and was freed after eight years and eight months. In 2018, he was eventually allowed to go back to university, but was once again arrested in 2019 for his social media activism as well as participation in protests to the downing of the Flight 752 by the Iranian regime that killed all 176 passengers and crew. He was sentenced to one year in prison and is now awaiting the court ruling to be enforced. In 2022, he was accepted in the national PhD entrance exam but was once again banned from attending university.
