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An international non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

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Omid Kokabee Petition Sent to Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i

March 9, 2012

This is a copy of the petition that CCS sent to the Grand Ayatollah of Iran in support of graduate student Omid Kokabee.

Petition for the release of Omid Kokabee

To: His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i
The Supreme Leader, The Islamic Republic of Iran
Tehran

Sponsored By: Committee of Concerned Scientists

This petition, signed by 251 academics and students, is sponsored by the Committee of Concerned Scientists — an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world.

On July 14, 2011, we wrote an open letter to ask Your Eminence to correct a grave mistake made by the government officials in jailing Omid Kokabee, an Iranian doctoral student at the University of Texas – Austin. Mr. Kokabee was arrested at Tehran airport on a visit of his parents last winter. We were told that he was held at Evin prison and that he would soon stand trial on charges of “communicating with hostile government” and “illegitimate earnings”.

Our contacts with Omid Kokabee’s professors and fellow students at the University of Texas, as wellas at the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona, Spain, where Omid obtained his Masters Degree in optics before coming to Texas, all confirm that he was dedicated to his studies and refrained from engaging in politics. He was paid for his teaching assistantship with regular support package provided to all first-year U.S. and international doctoral students by the University of Texas and not by the United States Government or any of its agencies.

Some reports indicate that Mr. Kokabee might have been suspected in the exchange of information on nuclear technology. As scientists, we can assure you, that his research and studies had nothing to do with nuclear energy. His education and his Ph.D. project are in optics. He appears to be a talented young scientist whose studies have been interrupted for no good reason.

Imprisonment of Omid Kokabee and his upcoming trial have planted fear in the hearts of Iranian students that are currently studying abroad. Instead of bringing their skills and knowledge back to Iran, many of them are re-thinking their future in fear of reprisal on their return home. We trust that your wisdom will direct you to disperse this fear by promptly allowing Mr. Kokabee to return to his doctoral studies abroad and to travel freely to Iran, his native country.

251 Signatures:

Alvaro Castillo
Alexander Greer (agreer@brooklyn.cuny.edu)
Benjamin Rudshteyn
Andrew Sessler (AMSessler@lbl.gov)
Max Gottesman (meg8@columbia.edu)
Juan C Gallardo
Eugene M. Chudnovsky
Joseph L Birman (Department of Physics City College and City University of New York)
Sidney Bludman
Jack Minker, Professor Emeritus
Prof Stanley Deser
Milton Cole
Edyta Greer
Edward Gerjuoy
Ryan McCulla
Adam Miles Lewis
Pierre Hohenberg
Myriam P. Sarachik
Saieed I. Khalil
Richard H. Ebright
Anette Meyer
Amy Oswalt (a_oswalt@hotmail.com)
Michele Irwin
Murray Peshkin
Vladimir Lifschitz
Ed Gracely
Uldis Blukis (Blukisu@gmail.com)
Iain Botheroyd
Sonja Jo
Joel Villatoro
Patrick Ledingham
Chirag Dhara
Florian Wolfgramm
Ester Tarrag
Carlo Manzo
Alexandre Thai
Prof. Dr. Juergen Eschner
Riccardo Sapienza
Prof. Giovanna Morigi
Thomas van Zanten
Vittoria Finazzi
Michael Geiselmann
Alloing Mathieu
Francesca Arcara
Einar Magnusson
Alessandra Morelli (alessandra.mo@libero.it)
Mark Kreuzer
Daan Brinks
Ana Dolcet Llerena
Federica Beduini
Dr Fiona Beck
Felix Rohde
Rafael Porcar Guezenec
Oscar Casellas
Giovanni Benato
Valeria Kleiman
Nathan Lundblad
Justin K. Rice, PhD
Ignacio de Miguel
Pasqualantonio Pingue (Laboratorio NEST, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa (ITALY))
Bridger Mitchell, Ph. D.
Jaroslaw Korbicz
Davide Janner
David B Thomas
Amee Manges
Piotr Migdal
Katherine Mitchell
Julia Fekete
Dr Stephanie Cheylan
Rodrigo Gallego
Jonatan Bohr Brask
Dr Jana Nieder
Maria Jose Martinez
Sinbad Kennedy
Rafael Betancur
Laura Roldin
Joanna Zielinska
Jason Hendricks
Steven Coyle
Catherine Yarrow
Mike Yarrow
James Goddard
Victoria Kingdon
Louise Tanner
Helen Green
Philipp Huke
David Montes
Santiago Royo
Lynda Romaine
Maria Tomas
Carles Oriach Font
Cristina Martinez Gonzalez
Aitor Matilla
Natalia Moreno
Ed Aronson
Steven Ernst
Elisabet Romeu
Pol Ribes
Aileen Corbett
Dr. Jan Renger
John Calsamiglia
Prof. Adolfo Comeron (Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya)
Shubham Kumar
Maria Isabel Ruiz Lopez
Maciej Lewenstein
Joan Juvert
Alejandro Rodriguez (Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya – Barcelona Tech)
Roberto D. Valderrama
Jose A Lazaro (Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya – Barcelona Tech)
Sergio Tomas Martinez
Victor Polo (Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya)
Josep Prat
Elli Kartsakli (Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya)
Juan Carlos Rodriguez Silva
Radostin Pavlov
Ioan Stan
Gabriel Junyent (Pofessor at Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya)
Sebastian Knorr
Daniel Perez
Miquel Banchs
Christoph Schmidt
Sebastian Schwarz
Julian Hernandez
German Franco
Dirk Fabian
Jose Trull
Jose M. Gonzalez (Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya – Barcelona Tech)
Marco Talone
Jose Antonio Ibarra (Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya)
Anna Giner Tort
Christopher Battle
Artur Carnicer
Dr. Fidel Vega
Karsten Koehler
Alberto Alonso
Cristina Sala
Alejandro Turpin Avilis
Maria Carol
Julio David Fecundo
Ricard Menchon
Prieto Blanco
Dr. Olivier Chalus
Gregori Vazquez (Full Professor, Technical University of Catalonia)
Xavier Gelabert Doran
Jade Martinez Llines
Alberto Sierra Noguera
Pinar Oz
Josep Mas
Andreas Laya
Carles Serrat i Jurado
Nuria Duffo
Merce Vall-llossera
Ramon Corbalan
Elisabet Perez
Anne Gstattner
Christopher Hadley
Tessa Geudens (tessa.geudens@europarl.europa.eu)
Tom Guldemont
Olga Malinkiewicz
Ramon Herrero
Susan Brown
Christian Christensen
Samantha Mocega
Mohsen Mohammadi
Eric Wilson
Julius Foitzik
Marta C. Gonzalez
Lauren Giudice
Sareh Heidari
Stephen Vincent Smith
Mohammad Fatahi
Elizabeth Blomstedt
Christina Eijkhout
Kimberly Shinabery
Carlo Ottaviani (Prof. Matteo Palassini, University of Barcelona)
E Lederman
Vittorio Giovannetti
SaraBeth Egle
Sai Dharmarajan (dsaihurrish@gmail.com)
Yesenia Lugo
Felix Ritort Farran (fritort@gmail.com)
Cynthia Mccoy
Fabio Sciarrino
Pamela Kivett
Pierre Chavel
Larisa Manescu
Ignacio Pagonabarraga
Nancy Butters
James Sandison
Rachel Dady
Anbumathi P
Gilles Pauliat
Franck Delmotte
Michelle Moreau
Vasantika Singh
Thor Delph
Shamim Bina
Christoph Westbrook
Ellen Hutchison
Kevin Frawley
Gloria Carrasco-Campbell
David Ayala
Jim Norton
Anita Jamali
Richard Suchoski
Afsaneh Taki
Emily Hauer
Brian F. O’Connor, Jr
Sean Fackler
Aaron Kusne
Ronald Maran
Margaret Black
Jess Fricchione
Richard Bergmann
Irina Dovgan
Daniel González S
Mason A. Porter
Vahid Nikoofard
Kalayar Maung
Mallory Finnegan
Myra Sabatto
Sanjoy Biswas
Renee Mattey
Tiffany Summerscales
Gol Mohammad Nafisi
Amab Rudra
Eric Myers
Anirban Das
Subhaditya Bhattacharya
Alex Barr
Diptarka Das
Joe Rossi
Justin Frasier
Rihanna Parmida
Mayur Moudhgalya
Thomas Broiles
Ruth Follmann
Bernie Shwayder
Dedra Demaree
Robert Garisto
Roberto Livi
Ankit Disa
Julia Mayer
Adam Wright
MariaCarmela Ribecco
Rajendra Adhikari
Thomas Van Vechten
Leif Segen
Jorge Pullin
Kevin Weber
Christine Colburn

Filed Under: Iran Tagged With: Omid Kokabee, Scientists

Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Paul H. Plotz, M.D., Washington, DC

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Astronomy – Arno Penzias, New Enterprises Associates*

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Medical Sciences – J. Joseph Blum, Duke University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deceased), Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser, Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy, University of Pittsburg

David Gross, (2004 Nobel Prize in Physics), Kavil Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara*

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Louis Nirenberg, New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Honorary Board Members

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, (1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology & Medicine), New England Biolabs*

Myriam Sarachick, City College of New York

Harold Scheraga, Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Steven Weinberg, University of Texas, Austin*

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*

* Nobel laureate

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Committee of Concerned Scientists

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