Ahmed Batebi, the heroic Iranian student activist who was sentenced to death and who was hideously tortured for years in Iran, has fled during a prison break and made his way safely to the U.S.

Batebi gained international fame, notes Gateway Pundit, by being featured on the cover of The Economist holding high a bloodied shirt which he said belonged to a fellow student activist. The latter, Ezzat Ebrahim-Nejad, was beaten by the Basij paramilitaries and reportedly shot and killed by a plainclothes police or vigilante.

Here is a moving excerpt from Batebi’s Voice of America Interview a few days ago:

I wish each and every Iranian could travel abroad, come to the U.S. or go to Europe, for just one week, and feel, smell, and breathe freedom, human dignity, and realize the value of their lives.

America welcomes you with open arms, Ahmed.