Abdul Jail Al-Singace, a scholar of mechanical engineering and opposition activist in Bahrain, was sentenced to life imprisonment in June of 2011. Since his detention in 2009, CCS has been opposing his imprisonment based solely on his exercise of his human rights. Our letters also expressed concern for Al-Singace's health because he is partially paralyzed. In anticipation of his appeal hearing, ... Continue Reading>>
Our Work
Russian Professors Sentenced for Spying: CCS Questions Due Process of Closed Trial
Following up on its letter of 2010, CCS wrote to President Putin protesting the due process followed when Professors Svyatoslav Bobyshev and Yevgeny Afanasyev of Baltic State Technical University were sentenced to 12 years each for spying for China. The sentences were reportedly handed down in a closed trial. These accusations stem from a cooperative relationship Baltic State Technical University ... Continue Reading>>
University Student Arrested in Sudan
CCS requests the release of Mohammed Salah Mohammed, a student leader at the University of Khartoum's Faculty of Science. According to reports by Amnesty International, he was arrested after he participated in peaceful protests. He is being held without charge. Read our letter to the government of Sudan: ... Continue Reading>>
Prominent Turkish Academic Kemal Gürüz Detained: CCS Asks for His Immediate Release on Bail
One of Turkey's most prominent academic reformers, Kemal Gürüz, was arrested and jailed for the second time based on charges of participation in a 1997 plot. He is a retired chemical engineer and former president of both the Turkish of Higher Education Council (YÖK) and the Turkish science-funding agency TÜBITAK.The move was condemned by human-rights activists and some Turkish scientists, who say ... Continue Reading>>
Professor Busra Ersanli Released from Jail
CCS welcomes the news from Scholars at Risk informing us that Professor Busra Ersanli of Turkey was released from prison on Friday, July 13, 2012. Reports indicate that charges against Professor Ersanli remain and that the trial will continue on October 1. Professor Ersanli, a professor of Political Science and International Relations at Marmara University in Istanbul, was arrested on October 28, ... Continue Reading>>
CCS Protests Sentence and Disbarment of Human Rights Attorney Abdolfattah Soltani
The Committee of Concerned Scientists sent a letter to Ayatolla Ail Khamenei, Supremem Leader of Iran, protesting the 13 year sentence given to Abdolfattah Soltani, a prominent human rights attorney, for "spreading propaganda against the system,” and "endangering national security". ... Continue Reading>>
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 Your Eminence: 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 ... Continue Reading>>
Ayatollah Khamenei Should Pardon Kokabee, CCS Says, Alleging “Tragic Misunderstanding”
CCS wrote a letter to the Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in response to the May 13th conviction of Omid Kokabee, an Iranian graduate student at the University of Texas, Austin. Kokabee was sentenced to 10 years in prison for "communicating with a hostile government". The letter stated that "there has been a tragic misunderstanding in this case, in which a promising young Iranian scientist was ... Continue Reading>>
Ayatollah Khamenei Should Pardon Kokabee, CCS Says, Alleging "Tragic Misunderstanding"
CCS wrote a letter to the Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in response to the May 13th conviction of Omid Kokabee, an Iranian graduate student at the University of Texas, Austin. Kokabee was sentenced to 10 years in prison for "communicating with a hostile government". The letter stated that "there has been a tragic misunderstanding in this case, in which a promising young Iranian scientist was ... Continue Reading>>
Iranian Graduate Student at Texas U/Austin Sentenced to 10-years for Espionage in Iran
Omid Kokabee an Iranian graduate student in physics who has been imprisoned in Tehran for the past 15 months, was sentenced to 10 years in jail for "communicating with a hostile government," according to a May 15 article in the publication "Nature." In a group trial of 10 or 15 people, where reportedly no evidence was presented against any of the accused, Kokabee and others were convicted of a ... Continue Reading>>