The Human Rights Committee urges leaders of the Iranian government to ensure that the scientist Ahmadreza Djalali’s death sentence is not carried out. According to Iran’s ISNA news agency the government intends to execute Djalali on May 21.
Dr Djalali, a dual Iranian-Swedish citizen, was arrested when visiting Iran six years ago. He was later sentenced to death for, among other things, alleged espionage in a trial described by human rights organisations as very deficient and completely without legal certainty.
Since his arrest Dr Djalali has been detained under harsh conditions and his health has severely deteriorated. He has been subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment, for example prolonged solitary confinement and withholding of needed medical care.
The Human Rights Committee of Sweden’s Scientific and Literary Academies has for many years urged the Iranian government to release Dr Djalali. The committee now once again urges the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, to ensure that Dr Djalali’s death sentence is not carried out and that he should be released and allowed to return to his wife and children in Sweden.
