Mohammadreza Jalaleipour, a 34-year-old Ph.D. Student at Oxford University was arrested in Iran on April 18, 2018. He has had brief phone calls to his family, and no access to an attorney. The cause is unknown at this time. In 2009 Jalaeipour was detained for several months following the presidential election but was never prosecuted. Of concern is that Jalaleipour’s father is a member of the Central Committee of the Islamic Iran Participation Front and that his son may have been detained for the father’s political beliefs, peaceful political activity and family association. CCS has written the Head of the Judiciary requesting that either he be charged with a recognizable criminal offense or be released immediately and unconditionally.
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
Head of the Judiciary
c/o Public Relations Office
Number 4, Deadend of 1 Azizi
Above Pasteur Intersection
Vali Asr Street
Tehran, Iran
Your Excellency:
The Committee of Concerned Scientists is 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.
We write to express our concern for Mohammadreza Jalaeipour, a 34-year-old Oxford Ph.D. student of sociology arrested in Iran on April 18, 2018. It is not clear to us why he has been arrested. He has only been allowed to make five brief phone calls, and it does not seem that he has yet been allowed access to legal counsel.
Mohammadreza Jalaeipour was previously arrested and detained for several months in 2009, following the presidential election of that year, but he was never prosecuted for a crime. We understand that the father of Mohammadreza Jalaeipour is a member of the Central Committee of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, and we are concerned that his arrest may be for his political beliefs, peaceful political activity, or family associations.
We urge you to assure that Mohammadreza Jalaeipour is given regular access to his family and lawyers. We further urge you to ensure that he is not subjected to torture or ill-treatment while in custody. If he is not to be charged with a recognizable criminal offense, we urge that he be released immediately and unconditionally.
Iran’s obligations as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) include guaranteeing fair trials and protecting the rights to freedom of belief and association. As an international community of scholars, we believe It is imperative that the fundamental rights of our colleague Mohammadreza Jalaeipour be respected.
We thank you for your attention to this matter, and we look forward to receiving your response.
Sincerely,
Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich, Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer
Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists
cc.:
H.E. Gholamali Khoshroo
Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
622 Third Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Phone: (212) 687-2020
Fax: (212) 867-7086
Email: iran@un.int
Hassan Rouhani
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Pasteur Street, Pasteur Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: media@rouhani.ir
Twitter: @HassanRouhani (English) and @Rouhani_ir (Persian)