At about the same time, Akbar Ganji attended the Iran After the Elections conference in Berlin. Upon return he was arrested and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, to be followed by five years in exile (later reduced to six years imprisonment and no exile) for "retaining classified documents from the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry, insulting the former Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, and disseminating propaganda against the Islamic system." His time in prison included hunger strikes and courtroom displays of torture marks.