You have /5 articles left.
Sign up for a free account or log in.
A scientist imprisoned in Iran has reportedly been sentenced to death for suspected espionage, according to a statement from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in Belgium, with which he is affiliated.
Ahmadreza Djalali teaches in a joint master’s program in disaster medicine offered by the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale, in Italy.
“A scientist performing important humanitarian work gets sentenced without public trial and is looking at the death penalty,” Caroline Pauwels, the rector of VUB, said in the statement. “This is an outrageous violation of universal human rights, against which we should react decisively.”
Ives Hubloue, the head of VUB's Research Group on Emergency and Disaster Medicine, told Science that the charges Djalali faces may be related to his international scientific contacts. He described Djalali as "passionate about science" and "not interested in politics."
"We don't believe he did anything wrong," Hubloue told Science. "Let him go. Let him do his work. We need him."
The Scholars at Risk network, which advocates for academic freedom globally and assists threatened scholars, has started an urgent letter-writing campaign on Djalali’s behalf.
“SAR understands that Dr. Djalali, an Iranian-born resident of Sweden, who teaches at universities in Italy and Belgium, was arrested in April 2016, while visiting Iran to participate in a series of academic workshops,” the organization said in a message. “He has since been detained in Evin Prison, and was reportedly held in solitary confinement without access to a lawyer until December 2016, when he was transferred to a public ward. On Feb. 1, 2017, Dr. Djalali informed his sister that he had been forced to sign a confession, which reportedly relates to crimes against the national security of Iran. Shortly thereafter, he was reportedly sentenced to death. Dr. Djalali’s wife and academic colleagues have all strongly denied any possible national security charges against him, citing his dedication to international scientific collaboration.”
