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Political prisoners of note held at Evin have included Akbar Ganji (held there from 2000 to 2006), Mohsen Sazegara (in 2003), Nasser Zarafshan, as well as Hamid Pourmand (2005-6), Dariush Zahedi, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, on charges of espionage (2003), subsequently acquitted in 2004, and Ramin Jahanbegloo (2006).

At dawn on 27 July 2008, the Iranian government executed a total of 29 people at Evin Prison by hanging.[10]

Esha Momeni, a student at the California State University, Northridge, was held at Evin after her arrest on October 15, 2008, for crimes against national security.[11] She was in Iran to visit family and research women's rights in the country.[12][13] Momeni was released 11 November 2008.[14]

Roxana Saberi, an Iranian-American journalist, was arrested in January 2009 for reporting without press credentials with a charge of espionage added in April. She was held in the Evin Prison as well. She was released in May 2009.[15][16]

Journalist/blogger Hossein Derakhshan was held at Evin after his arrest in November 2008, allegedly for spying for Israel.[17]

French student Clotilde Reiss, who stood trial in August 2009 was also held there. Ehsan Naraghi, a writer, was also believed to be held as a political prisoner in Evin.

Andrew Barber, a British tourist, was arrested June 21, 2010, and held in Evin prison, section 209 for 58 days. He was accused of espionage due to a photograph he'd taken, but charges were later dropped.

Three long time Middle-Eastern residents, Americans convicted by the Iranians of spying for Israel, Shane Bauer, Joshua Fattal, and Sarah Shourd, who were on holiday in Iraqi Kurdistan and were detained by Iran, have been held in Evin Prison since around the beginning of August 2009. Shourd was kept in solitary confinement.[23] The Washington Post reported that "Shane Michael Bauer 27, Joshua Felix Fattal 27 and Sarah Emily Shourd 31 were arrested in July [2009] by Iranian border guards while hiking in the mountainous Kurdish region between Iraq and Iran. Their families say they crossed the border accidentally, but a top Iranian prosecutor last month accused the three of spying." In December, 2009, Iran's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the three would be put on trial, in a move that coincided with other points of contention between the two countries.[24] Sarah Shourd was freed Sept. 14, 2010, on a $500,000 bail.