2023-12-22 11:12:00
©Private
Given the alarming data that indicates that the académico iranosueco Ahmadreza Djalaliarbitrarily detained in Iran since April 2016, runs serious risk of being executed imminently in that country in retaliation, Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:
“Amid a sharp increase in executions in Iran that began in November, there are growing signs that Iranian authorities are threatening to execute Ahmadreza Djalali in retaliation for his unmet demands to divert the course of justice in Sweden. The cruel game with the life of Ahmadreza Djalali, which began immediately after a Swedish appeals court confirmed the conviction and life sentence imposed on former Iranian prison officer Hamid Nouri for his role in the prison massacres 1988, concerns are growing that Iranian authorities are holding Ahmadreza Djalali hostage to force Sweden to make a prisoner exchange.
“The international community, including Sweden, must immediately call on the Iranian authorities to stop any plans to execute Ahmadreza Djalali, end their outrageous attack on the right to life, release Ahmadreza Djalali immediately and declare a moratorium on all executions.”
“The international community, including Sweden, must immediately call on the Iranian authorities to stop any plans to execute Ahmadreza Djalali, end their outrageous attack on the right to life, release Ahmadreza Djalali immediately and declare a moratorium on all executions. “The Iranian authorities must be investigated for the crime of hostage-taking.”
Additional information
On December 19, 2023, a Swedish appeals court upheld Hamid Nouri’s conviction and life sentence for his role in the 1988 Iranian prison massacres. The following day, December 20, media Iranian state media outlets broadcast a propaganda video with forced confessions from Ahmadreza Djalali, including that he was a spy for Israel. Ahmadreza Djalali has repeatedly denied these accusations and has stated that he did their confessions forced under torture and other ill-treatment. The propaganda video includes the forced confessions of Iranian-Swedish Habib Chaab, who was secretly arbitrarily executed by Iranian authorities in May 2023, adding to concerns that Ahmadreza Djalali is at risk of imminent execution.
Later, on December 22, 2023, according to information revealed by Ahmadreza Djalali’s family, a judicial official visited him in prison and warned him that his conviction and death sentence were “confirmed” and that “ They will implement soon.” Scandalously, the official also said that Sweden was holding Hamid Nouri to pressure Iran to release Ahmadreza Djalali. In recent days, Iranian state media has repeated these implausible claims even though Ahmadreza Djalali has been imprisoned in Iran since 2016, more than two years before Hamid Nouri’s arrest.
Iranian authorities sentenced Ahmadreza Djalali to death for “corruption on earth” (efsad-e fel-arz) in October 2017, following a manifestly unfair trial before Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran.
Iranian authorities have recently embarked on another alarming wave of executions that have killed at least 115 people in November 2023 alone.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the convicted person or the method of execution used by the State to kill them. The death penalty is a violation of the right to life and the maximum exponent of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
#Ahmadreza #Djalali #IranianSwedish #academic #arbitrarily #detained #risk #execution #retaliation