Ahmet Metin Sekizkardes, a former journalist and professor of Fatih University was arrested in July 2016 on charges of being a member of an armed terrorist organization. He was convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison and is still confined. The charges appear to be unsubstantiated. Fatih was one of the top private universities in Turkey and closed by the government after the failed coup ... Continue Reading>>
Former Rector of Turgut Ozal University Still In Jail After Three Years
Abdulkadir Sengun was the Rector and Professor of Turgut Ozal University. He was arrested following the July 16 attempted coup and charged with being a member of an armed terrorist organization. He was sentenced to more than eight years in prison. Turgut Ozal University was one of the schools that the current Turkish administration closed. His relationship to the school seems to be the basis for ... Continue Reading>>
UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Responds to CCS Letter Supporting Junaid Hafeez
The Committee of Concerned Scientists wrote the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights concerning the egregious case of Junaid Hafeez and his sentence to death for blasphemy in Pakistan. The News Release that was issued by the OHCHR is below. Pakistan blasphemy death sentence for Junaid Hafeez is “travesty of justice”- UN experts GENEVA (27 December 2019) – UN human rights ... Continue Reading>>
Two Female Inmates in Evin Prison Start Christmas Eve Hunger Strike
On Christmas Eve Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert and Iranian-born, French academic, Fariba Adelkhah began a hunger strike for freedom for all researchers and political prisoners in Iran who have been unjustly imprisoned on fake charges. It has been suggested that academics worldwide write or go to Iranian Embassies in their countries and demand release of Fariba Adelkhah and Kylie ... Continue Reading>>
Hafeez Sentenced to Death for Blasphemy Charge
A gifted scholar was arrested for Blasphemy in Pakistan and spent six years in jail awaiting trial. His first attorney was threatened in open court by the prosecutor, saying he would not live for the next hearing. Shortly, thereafter, an assassin entered his office and killed him. Following the murder, getting a new attorney to take the case was difficult, and getting a judge to hear the case ... Continue Reading>>
Serkan Golge and Ismail Kul Released But Still Not Home
Two American academics that were released from prison in Turkey, after being imprisoned for charges they did not commit, are still not allowed to depart Turkey to return home. Serkan Golge, a former NASA scientist, and Ismail Kul, a professor at Widener College in Pennsylvania, have been released from prison but Turkish officials continue to withhold their passports and require them to report to ... Continue Reading>>
US/Iran Swap Prisoners – Academic and Scientist Free’d
Thanks to the work of the Swiss Embassy, the American State Department and the Administrations of the United States and Iran, Xiyue Wang, a researcher and history student at Princeton who was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in prison in Iran for espionage (charges which he has always denied) and Professor Massoud Soleimani, an Iranian scientist convicted of violating U.S. sanctions and ... Continue Reading>>
Committee of Concerned Scientists Review of 2018 Cases
The Committee of Concerned Scientists has compiled a brief review of our active cases over the past year. Many are still active, some have closed. The review gives a description of the situation for each case, a timeline and the current status of the scientist, academic, engineer or physician involved. ... Continue Reading>>
A Very Merry Happy 85th Birthday to Our Very Dear Advisory Board Member, Myriam Sarachik
Myriam Sarachik, famous for her pioneering experiments on the Kondo effect, metal-insulator transitions and spin tunneling, turns 85. She has been an invaluable, long-time CCS Board Member devoted to the human rights of scientists. I encourage everybody to read Myriam’s short autobiography: Pushing Boundaries: My Personal and Scientific Journey. Deeply personal, it encompasses great events that ... Continue Reading>>
Uighur Doctoral Student Disappears; Family Concerned She Is In Re-Education Camp
Guligeina Tashimaimaiti, a Uighur Ph.D. student, writer and scholar returned from a trip to Malaysia on December 26, 2017 and her family has not seen nor heard from her since. CCS has written the Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region requesting her release and her safety. July 7, 2018 Chen Quanguo Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region 479 Zhongshan ... Continue Reading>>