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The Alliance of Science Organisations in Germany is unequivocally calling for the release of Swedish-Iranian academic Dr Ahmadreza Djalali, who faces imminent execution in Iranian custody. It is further demanding humane treatment with medical care, access to family members and legal representation for Dr Djalali with immediate effect.
By doing so, it is following Thursday’s open letter published by the President of the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) addressed to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran.
These academic organisations consider long-term consequences to German-Iranian academic relations to be unavoidable if Djalali were not to be reprieved. They believe that the international academic community cannot accept one of its members being detained without legal basis for years on end under the harshest conditions and being threatened with death.
The Alliance is concerned that these circumstances will have an impact on the cooperation arrangements between its member institutions and their Iranian partners. The Alliance is convinced that academic freedom and respect for human rights form the basis for successful part-nerships built on trust.
Dr Djalali has already been under arrest in Iran for four and a half years. The researcher and expert in disaster medicine, who is resident in Sweden, was sentenced to death in October 2017 for “corruption on Earth” (ifsad fil-arz). Iran’s Supreme Court denied a request to review the verdict in February 2018. For some time now, Dr Djalali has been refused proper medical treat-ment despite it being strongly suspected that he may have leukaemia.
Similarly, Scholars at Risk, the international network for the protection of at-risk researchers, is expressing its support for Dr Ahmadreza Djalali. It has accused the Iranian security forces of torturing the researcher and has called for letters of support to be written to the Iranian government. Amnesty International has reported attempts to force a confession.
The Alliance of Science Organisations in Germany is a union of the most important science and research organisations in Germany. It regularly issues statements regarding important science policy issues. The German Rectors’ Conference is a member of the Alliance and is chair of the organisation for 2020. The Alliance’s other members are the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the German Academic Exchange Service, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the Helmholtz Association, the Leibniz Association, the Max Planck Society, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and the German Council of Science and Humanities.
Media contact:
German Rectors’ Conference
Susanne Schilden
Head of Communication | Press Speaker
Ahrstraße 39
53175 Bonn
Tel.: 0228/887-152
schilden[at]hrk.de
(press release 25/2020)
Every year, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation enables more than 2,000 researchers from all over the world to spend time conducting research in Germany. The Foundation maintains an interdisciplinary network of well over 30,000 Humboldtians in more than 140 countries around the world – including 61 Nobel Prize winners.