Narges Mohammadi, an accomplished scientist in Iran was sentenced to 16 years in jail for her work opposing the death penalty and for meeting with the UN High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
CCS has written the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran asking that they reconsider this sentence and reverse their decision.
October 30, 2016
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street –
End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of IranYour Excellency:
We are writing on behalf of 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 our colleagues all over the world.
We write again out of concern for our colleague, Narges Mohammadi, a 44-year old Iranian physicist, engineer and human rights advocate. On May 17 her lawyer learned that she had been sentenced to a 16-year prison term on charges that are based exclusively on her peaceful human rights work. On September 28, that sentence was confirmed by an Appeals Court. In October 2015 we wrote to President Rouhani expressing our concern at her arrest and incarceration, and in June 2016 we wrote to convey our profound disappointment at the verdict and our fear for our colleague’s declining physical health. We write now to express our dismay that her sentence has been upheld, and to urge you to intervene for the sake of justice.
Narges Mohammadi is an accomplished scientist, and also an advocate of women’s rights, abolition of the death penalty, and other human rights causes, all work that is protected by her rights to free expression, association and peaceful assembly as guaranteed by the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Iran ratified in 1975.
Ten years of this 16-year sentence are based on anti-death penalty activities for which she was convicted of “founding an illegal group,” despite her right to free association and assembly.
An additional 5 years were imposed on Narges Mohammadi for “gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security” the evidence for which included her meeting in 2014 with Catherine Ashton, then the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. This sentence also violates her basic right to free association.
Narges Mohammadi was sentenced to one more year for “spreading propaganda against the system,” apparently as a result of interviews she has given to international media, and clearly a violation of her right for free expression.
Narges Mohammadi has been held at Evin Prison in Tehran now for over a year, and under Iran’s penal code, she will be required to serve at least 10 more years in prison (the duration of the lengthiest sentence imposed). She has become seriously ill, suffering lung problems from a pulmonary embolism and muscular paralysis from a neurological disorder. She has been hospitalized three times since May 2015. In June she went on a hunger strike after she was banned from speaking with her children; fortunately, this restriction was lifted, but her health condition remains precarious, and she remains jailed for peaceful human rights activities.
We once again urge you to see to it that our colleague Narges Mohammadi is immediately and unconditionally released and that her convictions and sentences are reversed. It is also imperative that she be granted adequate medical care and regular access to her lawyer and her family, including her children.
We appreciate your immediate attention to this important matter and look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich,
Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander GreerCo-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists
Copies To:
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Hassan Rouhani
The Presidency
Pasteur Street, Pasteur Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of IranHead of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani
c/o Public Relations Office
Number 4, Deadend of 1 Azizi
Above Pasteur Intersection
Vali Asr Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of IranPermanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
622 Third Avenue
34th Floor
New York, NY 10017
