What it means
زندانی سیاسی (zendâni-ye siyâsi) means political prisoner. The noun زندانی (zendâni) means prisoner or detainee and is formed from زندان (zendân, prison), a word generally traced to Middle Persian with probable Iranian roots. The adjective سیاسی (siyâsi) means political and comes from سیاست (siyâsat), which entered Persian from Arabic سياسة (siyâsa, governance or policy). Together, the phrase describes someone imprisoned because of their political beliefs, activities, or speech rather than for an ordinary criminal act. A related phrase is زندانی عقیدتی (zendâni-ye aqidati), meaning prisoner of conscience, which refers more specifically to belief or religion.
How to use it
- سازمانهای حقوق بشر او را زندانی سیاسی میدانند. (Sâzmânhâ-ye hoquq-e bashar u râ zendâni-ye siyâsi midânand.) “Human rights organizations consider him a political prisoner.”
- سازمانهای حقوق بشر آزادی زندانیان سیاسی رو خواستن. (Sâzmânhâ-ye hoqouq-e bashar âzâdi-ye zendâniyân-e siyâsi ro khâstan.) “Human rights organizations demanded the release of political prisoners.”
- اون سالها به عنوان زندانی سیاسی در بند بود. (Oon sâlhâ be onvân-e zendâni-ye siyâsi dar band bud.) “She was held for years as a political prisoner.”
- تعداد زندانیان سیاسی افزایش پیدا کرده. (Te-dâd-e zendâniyân-e siyâsi afzâyesh peydâ karde.) “The number of political prisoners has increased.”
Cultural note
The issue of زندانیان سیاسی (political prisoners) is one of the most persistent topics in Iranian civil society and international human rights reporting. Since the 1979 revolution, successive political cycles have seen waves of arrests targeting journalists, lawyers, students, and activists. Organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch regularly publish lists of named political prisoners in Iran, and the phrase زندانی سیاسی carries significant weight in both domestic protest and diaspora discourse.