A judge in Tehran has ordered the death penalty for Iranian disaster-medicine researcher Ahmadreza Djalali, according to his wife, Vida Mehrannia, and diplomatic sources in Italy.
The 45-year-old professor who taught at the European Master in Disaster Medicine (EMDM) in Italy—a joint Master’s program of the Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel—was arrested in April 2016 on charges of “collaboration with a hostile government” while he was visiting his family in Tehran.
Djalali works on improving hospitals’ emergency responses to armed terrorism and radiological, chemical, and biological threats. Following a trial led by Abolqasem Salavati, a judge in Iran's Revolutionary Court on October 21, Djalali was convicted of espionage and sentenced to death.
Djalali has 20 days to appeal against the sentence. His wife says that her husband was accused of obtaining money, academic positions, and research projects in exchange for spying on Iran for Israel. Mehrannia says that Djalali is considering a hunger strike to protest at the sentence, as Djalali has carried out multiple hunger and thirst strikes throughout his imprisonment. Djalali has also been forced to change his lawyer against his will, according to the Committee of Concerned Scientists.
Several scholars and human-rights organizations including Endangered Scholars Worldwide have called for a fair trial or release for the academic. We consider this arbitrary sentence a flagrant and unjust violation of the freedom, security, and safety of an academic who is clearly a victim of a political witch hunt—arrested without cause, held for months in solitary confinement and without access to a lawyer, and subjected to physical mistreatment and psychological abuse. We deplore the unjustified verdict in the strongest terms and call upon all international organizations, academic and professional associations, and other groups and individuals devoted to the promotion and defense of human rights to strongly protest and condemn this arbitrary sentence; to call for Djalali’s immediate and unconditional release; and to urge the officials of the Iranian government to respect, guarantee, and implement the provisions and principles of human rights as specified in international conventions and treaties.
Please send appeals to the following:
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Jomhouri Street
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 644 11
Website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/www.Khamenei.ir
Ayatollah Sadeqh Larijani
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran
President Hassan Rouhani
The Office of the President
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran
Javad Zarif
Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Minister’s Office
Imam Khomeini Square
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 66743149
Website: http://www.mfa.gov.ir
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jzarif
Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Email: InfoDesk@ohchr.org
Kishore Singh
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Email: sreducation@ohchr.org
David Kaye
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 917 9006
Email: freedex@ohchr.org
Federica Mogherini
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
European Commission
Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat 200
1049 Brussels
Belgium
Thorbjørn Jagland
Secretary General of the Council of Europe Council of Europe
Avenue de l'Europe
F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex
France
Fax: + 33 3 88 41 27 99
Philippe Boillat
Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law Council of Europe
Avenue de l'Europe
F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex
France
Fax: + 33 3 88 41 27 99