In June 2009, Nabavi attended one of the "Green Revolution" protests,[1] which disputed the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi.

[5] He was initially charged with “gathering and colluding against national security”; “propaganda against the system”; “disturbing public order”; and “moharebeh” (enmity against God), as well as accused with being a member of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, a banned militant group.

[1] Following his trial, Nabavi began serving his sentence at Tehran's Evin Prison along with numerous other student protesters, including Majid Tavakoli and Kouhyar Goudarzi.

[6] The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran published a letter from Nabavi in February 2010 in which he stated that he had been held for 100 days of solitary confinement and "subjected to physical and psychological torture".

[2] Human Rights Watch called on the Iranian government "to release the dozens of students who remain in prison on baseless charges, and allow back into the classroom the hundreds of others who are being deprived of their education for political and religious reasons.