Ahmadreza Djalali, an Iranian disaster-medicine researcher who was sent to prison in April 2016, is due to go to trial on September 27 on charges of “collaboration with a hostile government.” Djalali has been warned by the Iranian court that he may be facing a death sentence, according to his wife, Vida Mehrannia.
The 45-year-old professor taught at the European Master in Disaster Medicine (EMDM) in Italy—a joint Master’s program by the Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He was arrested in April 2016 while visiting his family in Iran, after which he spent more than seven months in solitary confinement without a proper trial or access to a lawyer. In December 2016 Djalali led a hunger strike to protest these conditions, despite suffering from medical conditions such as kidney and heart pain.
During a pretrial meeting on January 31, Abolqasem Salavati, a judge with Iran’s Revolutionary Court, told Djalali that he could face a death sentence. The judge later vetoed Djalali's first choice of lawyer and forced him to select another.
We at Endangered Scholars Worldwide consider this arbitrary sentence detention 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.
Endangered Scholars Worldwide calls upon all international organizations, academic and professional associations, and other groups and individuals devoted to the promotion and defense of human rights to protest and condemn this arbitrary sentence; to ask 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.
We urge you to sign the petition and appeal to Iranian Government.
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