SAVE AHMADREZA DJALALI

LETTER TO THE EU BY FIDU AND OTHER ORGANISATIONS

If you wish to add your name, or the one of your organization, to the list of supporters of this action, please send an email to campagne@fidu.it

 

H. E. Josep Borrell

High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,

Vice-President of the European Commission

Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat 200 – 1049 Brussels

 

An Urgent Appeal for Doctor Ahmadreza Djalali

Launched on 25/11/2020

 

Dear HR/VP Josep Borrell,

We are writing to you to express our deep concern for Ahmadreza Djalali’s case.

We have just learned that Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali had been transferred to solitary confinement and he will be soon transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison where his death sentence is to be carried out. 

Dr. Djalali is an Iranian-Swedish researcher affiliated with Sweden’s Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and Italy’s University of Eastern Piedmont in Novara, where he carried out research on improving hospitals’ emergency responses to armed terrorism and radiological, chemical and biological threats. He is internationally esteemed and regularly collaborates with leading European research institutes. Dr. Djalali´s contribution is undeniable in this field of research. His innovative research has been conducted in multicultural environments and in collaboration with colleagues and institutions in several countries. His studies have led to the publication of more than forty scientific papers with the purpose of improving the emergency response not only in his own country, Iran, but also in Europe.

Dr. Djalali was arrested in Iran in April 2016 and later convicted of espionage, with no material evidence provided, following a secret and hasty process led by Iran’s revolutionary court and without allowing any defence submission.

Dr. Djalali spent a period of long detention, with initially total and later partial isolation in Evin prison. For the entire period of imprisonment he was subjected to such heavy psychological torture, that he was forced, on two occasions, to record false confessions, reading what was prepared by the interrogators. Following a trial that took place behind closed doors and in violation of any minimum standard of legality, on 21 October 2017, he was sentenced to death for “corruption on earth” (Efsad-e fel-arz).

According to reports by the international scientific weekly journal Nature (23 October 2017), a source close to Djalali revealed, through a document presented as a literal transcription of a handwritten text produced by Djalali inside Evin prison, that in 2014 he was approached by agents of the Iranian military intelligence that asked him to collect information on Western chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear sites, as well as on critical infrastructures and counter-terrorism operational plans. The document states that Djalali believes he was arrested for refusing to spy for the Iranian intelligence service.

We, the signatories of this appeal, ask the EU to take an immediate action in order to obtain the suspension of the death sentence which, in a short time, can end the life of an innocent man, and to ensure that Ahmadreza Djalali can get access to prompt and appropriate medical care.

Thank you for your attention and response.

Sincerely,

FIDU – Federazione Italiana Diritti Umani

ACAT Belgium (Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture)

ACAT Germany (Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture)

Associazione Luca Coscioni per la libertà di ricerca scientifica

Blood Transfusion Centre of Slovenia

Canadian Medical Assistance Teams

Capital Punishment Justice Project (CPJP)

CRIMEDIM Research Center in Emergency and Disaster Medicine (Università del Piemonte Orientale)

ECPM – Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort

Eumans!

Global Committee for the Rule of Law “Marco Pannella”

International Academic Network for the Abolition of Capital Punishment (REPECAP)

Iran Human Rights

Legal Awareness Watch Pakistan

Nessuno Tocchi Caino / Hands Off Cain

Regroupement des Jeunes Africains pour la Démocratie et le Développement, Section Togo ( REJADD-TOGO)

Scholars at Risk Italy (SAR Italia)

Science for Democracy

Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights

SISM – Segretariato Italiano Studenti in Medicina APS

The Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians

The Kenya Human Rights Commission

 

This appeal is also supported by:

Sen. Prof. Elena Cattaneo (Italy)

Amb. Giulio Maria Terzi di Sant’Agata, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy

Prof. Frederick Burkle. Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard University (US)

Prof. Gregory Ciottone, President of Wadem – World Association of Disaster and Emergency Medicine (US)

Prof. Francesco Della Corte, Director of CRIMEDIM (Italy)

Prof. Johan von Schreeb, Director Centre for Research on Health Care in Disasters Global Health at Karolinska Institutet (Sweden)

Prof. Ole Petter Ottersen, Rector of Karolinska Institutet (Sweden)

Prof. Dr. Gian Carlo Avanzi, Rector of Università del Piemonte Orientale (Italy)

Amb. Giuseppe Berlendi, Ambassador, Representative of Italy to the African Union

Prof. Antonio Cuerda Riezu, Campus de Madrid-Vicálvaro (Spain)

Pia Elda Locatelli, former MEP, former Italian MP (Italy)

Tonina Cordedda, Vicesegretaria Associazione Luca Coscioni (Italy)

Giovanni Molteni Tagliabue, Ricercatore, Mariano Comense, Como (Italy)

Heidi Mertes, Assistant professor in Medical Ethics at Ghent University (Belgium)

Prof. Primoz Rozman, Ljubljana (Slovenia)

Cristina Degan, Milano (Italy)

Paolo Rapisarda, Southampton (United Kingdom)

Maria Gigliola Toniollo, Roma (Italy)

Mauro Bozzola, PhD Psychotherapist, Novara (Italy)

Dr Rowena Christiansen, Founder of the ad astra vita project (Australia)

Ashley E. D. Kane, MD, Boston, (USA)

Laura McCulloch

Shari Caputo, RN, MSN, CCNE, Assistant Teaching Professor, Thompson Rivers University, British Columbia (Canada)

Hilary Farren RN, BScN

Irene Maria Antunes Pereira, MD, MSc DM EMDM (Portugal)

Pieter van der Torn, arts n.p., D. Env. (Netherlands)

Awsan Bahattab, Research fellow CRIMEDIM – UPO (Italy)

Fereshteh Pourazari, researcher at RISE (research institutes of Sweden)

Marco Mangini

Stefania Raffa, Anesthesiologist, Novara (Italy)

Francesca Zottarelli, Dermatologist

Marco De Andrea, Asscociated Professor of Medical Microbiology, Università di Torino (Italy)

Silvia Romanzani

Veronica Caschetto

Rowena Christiansen, Founder of Ad Astra Vita Project

James Gosney Jr.

Cecilia Costa

James Smith, Dr, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (UK)

Andreas Wladis, Professor, Centre for Teaching & Research in Disaster Medicine and Traumatology (KMC), Linköping University  (Sweden)

Ms. Spinella

Paolo Gamalero

Emanuela Parotto, MD, Padova (Italy)

Andreas Ziegler, MSc, EMDM, MBA, MD, General Practitioner, Prehospital EMS (Austria)

Kirsten Johnson, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, McGill University (Canada)

Marta Caviglia, MD, CRIMEDIM (Italy)

Björn Ringselle, Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE)

Nicolò Ferraris

Dan Gryth, Assistant professor in Emergency Medicine, Karolinska Institutet (Sweden)

Chris Lee, MD, MScDM, FRCPC Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada)

Erika Frank, MD, MPH, FACPM Professor + Canada Research Chair, University of British Columbia (Canada)

Paul McCulloch

Maryanne Feil, Therapist, South London (UK)

Loiuse Cox, Doctor (UK)

Joanna McCulloch

Sheila Gregson

Tim Hickling (UK)

Rebecca Hopkins (UK)

Fabio Porru, MD, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam (Netherlands)

Micol Martuscelli

David McCulloch (UK)

Sean Kirkpatrick

Andrew Whittemore

Sadaf Abshar, NP MN (Canada)

Ritu R. Sarin, MD, MSc DM, FACEP, Seattle (USA)

Sara Brady, Doctor, Preseton (UK)

Michela Muserra

Elisabetta Zanetti

Tudor A. Cudreanu, MD MSc(Med) MSc(Disaster Medicine) PhD(Disaster Medicine) Medical Adviser State Health Incident Coordination Centre WA Medical Assistance Team (WAMAT) Divisional Commander Complex Medical Deployments Department of Health Government of Western Australia

Prof. Jan-Ingvar Jönsson, Vice-chancellor Linköping University (Sweden)

Rickard Lundin, Head of centre for teaching and research in disaster medicine and traumatology (Sweden)

Richard Blackburn (UK)

Karin Hugelius, Senior lecturer (Sweden)

Henrik Jörnvall, Senior consultant (Sweden)

Lisa Kurland, Professor in Emergency Medicine, Örebro University (Sweden)

 

 

 

 

Who is Ahmadreza Djalali?

Dr. Djalaliis an Iranian-Swedish researcher affiliated with Sweden’s Karolinska Institute in Stockholmand Italy’s University of Eastern Piedmont in Novara, where he carried out research on improving hospitals’ emergency responses to armed terrorism and radiological, chemical and biological threats. He is internationally esteemed and regularly collaborates withleading European research institutes. Dr. Djalali ́s contribution is undeniable in this field of research.

The arrest and the pre-trial detention

In April 2016, Dr. Djalali was in Iran teaching a class on Disaster Medicine for a Master’s Degree program at the invitation of the University of Tehran. He had  been there numerous times in the past without any problem. On April 24th, while driving to Karaj, he was arrested by Ministry of Intelligence agents, accused of “working with hostile governments”. His wife said that that after his arrest he was kept in total isolation for three months. This was followed by partial isolation in Evin Prison. During his long imprisonment, Dr. Djalali has been denied a lawyer of his choosing, subjected to psychological torture and intense interrogations. Besides, he told his family that, on two occasions, he was forced, under heavy psychological pressure, to make confessions in front of a camera by reading out statements pre-written by his interrogators. According to his wife, both his physical and mental health have sharply deteriorated since he has been detained.

The unfair trial and the death sentence

In 2017, Dr. Djalali was sentenced to death following a closed trial that did not meet the minimum international standards of justice. He was convicted in a revolutionary court on espionage charges, specifically spying on Iran for Israel, which he firmly denied. In protest against the decision of the court, Dr. Djalali has conducted a long hunger strike.

A global mobilization

Since Dr. Djalali’s detention became public, many appeals have been submitted to both Iranian and European Institutions by NGOs, politicians, and scientific organizations.

 

The Committee of Concerned Scientists

Italian Senators

Italian Deputies

Scholars at Risk

The European Universities Association

 

LETTER BY 156 NOBEL LAUREATES

27th November 2020

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran

 

Dear Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei:

Beginning in November 2017 I have written on behalf of a consortium of Nobel Laureates about the plight of a medical scholar, Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali, who was arrested on an academic visit to Tehran in April 2016. We wrote again in 2018 and in 2019 and support continues to grow.

Below is a list of 156 Nobel Laureates supporting this cause. We would urge you to attend to this case personally and make sure that Dr. Djalali is treated humanely and fairly and is released as soon as possible.

We respectfully request that you direct the Iranian authorities to allow Dr. Djalali to return home to his wife and children and continue his scholarly work for the benefit of mankind.

Yours sincerely,

Sir Richard Roberts Ph.D., F.R.S.

 

Name

Category

Prize Year

Peter Agre

Chemistry

2003

Sidney Altman

Chemistry

1989

Frances H. Arnold

Chemistry

2018

Paul Berg

Chemistry

1980

Thomas R. Cech

Chemistry

1989

Martin Chalfie

Chemistry

2008

Aaron Ciechanover

Chemistry

2004

Elias James Corey

Chemistry

1990

Robert F. Curl Jr.

Chemistry

1996

Johann Deisenhofer

Chemistry

1988

Gerhard Ertl

Chemistry

2007

Joachim Frank

Chemistry

2017

Walter Gilbert

Chemistry

1980

Robert H. Grubbs

Chemistry

2005

Richard Henderson

Chemistry

2017

Dudley R. Herschbach

Chemistry

1986

Avram Hershko

Chemistry

2004

Roald Hoffmann

Chemistry

1981

Robert Huber

Chemistry

1988

Brian K. Kobilka

Chemistry

2012

Roger D. Kornberg

Chemistry

2006

Yuan T. Lee

Chemistry

1986

Robert J. Lefkowitz

Chemistry

2012

Jean-Marie Lehn

Chemistry

1987

Michael Levitt

Chemistry

2013

Tomas Lindahl

Chemistry

2015

Hartmut Michel

Chemistry

1988

Paul L. Modrich

Chemistry

2015

William E. Moerner

Chemistry

2014

Kary B. Mullis

Chemistry

1993

John C. Polanyi

Chemistry

1986

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan

Chemistry

2009

Jean-Pierre Sauvage

Chemistry

2016

Richard R. Schrock

Chemistry

2005

K. Barry Sharpless

Chemistry

2001

George P. Smith

Chemistry

2018

Thomas A. Steitz

Chemistry

2009

Sir James Fraser Stoddart

Chemistry

2016

Sir John E. Walker

Chemistry

1997

Arieh Warshel

Chemistry

2013

M. Stanley Whittingham

Chemistry

2019

Sir Gregory P. Winter

Chemistry

2018

Kurt Wuthrich

Chemistry

2002

Ada E. Yonath

Chemistry

2009

Akira Yoshino

Chemistry

2019

George A. Akerlof

Economics

2001

Robert J. Aumann

Economics

2005

Oliver Hart

Economics

2016

Finn E. Kydland

Economics

2004

Robert E. Lucas Jr.

Economics

1995

Eric S. Maskin

Economics

2007

Daniel L. McFadden

Economics

2000

Robert C. Merton

Economics

1997

Robert A. Mundell

Economics

1999

Edmund S. Phelps

Economics

2006

Alvin E. Roth

Economics

2012

Christopher A. Sims

Economics

2011

Vernon L. Smith

Economics

2002

A. Michael Spence

Economics

2001

Oliver E. Williamson

Economics

2009

Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio

Literature

2008

J. M. Coetzee

Literature

2003

Elfriede Jelinek

Literature

2004

Patrick Modiano

Literature

2014

Herta Muller

Literature

2009

Alice Munro

Literature

2013

Orhan Pamuk

Literature

2006

Wole Soyinka

Literature

1986

Mario Vargas Llosa

Literature

2010

Francoise Barre-Sinoussi

Medicine

2008

J. Michael Bishop

Medicine

1989

Gunter Blobel

Medicine

1999

Sydney Brenner

Medicine

2002

William C. Campbell

Medicine

2015

Mario R. Capecchi

Medicine

2007

Peter C. Doherty

Medicine

1996

Andrew Z. Fire

Medicine

2006

Edmond H. Fischer

Medicine

1992

Paul Greengard

Medicine

2000

Carol W. Greider

Medicine

2009

Roger Guillemin

Medicine

1977

Sir John B. Gurdon

Medicine

2012

Jeffrey Connor Hall

Medicine

2017

Leland H. Hartwell

Medicine

2001

Harald zur Hausen

Medicine

2008

Jules A. Hoffmann

Medicine

2011

H. Robert Horvitz

Medicine

2002

Michael Houghton

Medicine

2020

Tim Hunt

Medicine

2001

Louis J. Ignarro

Medicine

1998

William G. Kaelin Jr.

Medicine

2019

Eric R. Kandel

Medicine

2000

Craig C. Mello

Medicine

2006

Edvard Moser

Medicine

2014

May-Britt Moser

Medicine

2014

Ferid Murad

Medicine

1998

Erwin Neher

Medicine

1991

Sir Paul M. Nurse

Medicine

2001

Yoshinori Ohsumi

Medicine

2016

Stanley B. Prusiner

Medicine

1997

Charles M. Rice

Medicine

2020

Sir Richard J. Roberts

Medicine

1993

Randy W. Schekman

Medicine

2013

Gregg L. Semenza

Medicine

2019

Phillip A. Sharp

Medicine

1993

Hamilton O. Smith

Medicine

1978

John E. Sulston

Medicine

2002

Jack W. Szostak

Medicine

2009

Harold E. Varmus

Medicine

1989

J. Robin Warren

Medicine

2005

Eric F. Wieschaus

Medicine

1995

Torsten N. Wiesel

Medicine

1981

Michael W. Young

Medicine

2017

Mairead Corrigan-Maguire

Peace

1976

Shirin Ebadi

Peace

2003

Leymah Roberta Gbowee

Peace

2011

Tawakkol Karman

Peace

2011

F.W. de Klerk

Peace

1993

Jose Ramos-Horta

Peace

1996

Jody Williams

Peace

1997

Hiroshi Amano

Physics

2014

Barry Clark Barish

Physics

2017

J. Georg Bednorz

Physics

1987

Steven Chu

Physics

1997

Claude Cohen-Tannoudji

Physics

1997

Jerome I. Friedman

Physics

1990

Andre Geim

Physics

2010

Sheldon Glashow

Physics

1979

David J. Gross

Physics

2004

John L. Hall

Physics

2005

Serge Haroche

Physics

2012

Brian D. Josephson

Physics

1973

Takaaki Kajita

Physics

2015

Wolfgang Ketterle

Physics

2001

Klaus von Klitzing

Physics

1985

J. Michael Kosterlitz

Physics

2016

Anthony J. Leggett

Physics

2003

John C. Mather

Physics

2006

Michel Mayor

Physics

2019

Gerard Mourou

Physics

2018

Konstantin Novoselov

Physics

2010

Douglas D. Osheroff

Physics

1996

James Peebles

Physics

2019

Arno Penzias

Physics

1978

William D. Phillips

Physics

1997

H. David Politzer

Physics

2004

Horst L. Stormer

Physics

1998

Donna Strickland

Physics

2018

Joseph H. Taylor Jr.

Physics

1993

Kip Stephen Thorne

Physics

2017

Steve Weinberg

Physics

1979

Rainer Weiss

Physics

2017

Carl E. Wieman

Physics

2001

Frank Wilczek

Physics

2004

Robert Woodrow Wilson

Physics

1978

David J. Wineland

Physics

2012

The Italian Federation for Human Rights unconditionally opposes the death penalty. In this specific case, consider the detention of Dr. Djalali a flagrant violation of fundamental rights and academic freedom. In view of the above mentioned information, the Italian Federation for Human Rights asks the Iranian government to urgently set aside the death sentence and ensure that all fundamental rights, in accordance with the international conventions and treaties, will be respected, to assure his physical safety while in detention and to guarantee the right to effective judicial protection.