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Ebby Abramson

Vrije Universiteit Brussel’s Professor Ahmadreza Djalali to Go on Trial for Espionage

Updated: Mar 13, 2022

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


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