Princeton University rally calls for release of American researcher imprisoned in Iran
Princeton University in the United States is holding a rally to launch an effort to free Zhiyu Wang, its doctoral student in history who is imprisoned in Iran.
The gathering, which will be held on Wednesday, March 2, and will include a speech by the university president, phone calls from attendees to members of Congress, and sending them cards, comes months after a United Nations working group called for Mr. Wang's release.
Zhiyu Wang, who traveled to Iran with government permission to research his doctoral thesis, was arrested in the summer of 2016 while reviewing documents from the late Qajar era in the Iranian National Archives and transferred to Evin Prison. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in a closed trial on charges of espionage.
Over the past two and a half years, in addition to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, US government officials, university professors, and Mr. Wang's family have repeatedly denied the espionage charges against the history student and called for his release.
However, the appeals court upheld the prisoner's 10-year prison sentence last summer.
Previously, a spokesman for the Iranian judiciary had announced that Mr. Wang had "entered Iran with certain influence" and was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of espionage after "it was determined that he was working to collect information."
This is while Mr. Wang traveled to Iran on a student visa to conduct research related to his doctoral thesis in the field of governance history. His supervisor also stated that Mr. Wang's research was on documents from the Qajar era and it is unclear how the Iranian government could consider studying documents from a hundred years ago to be espionage.
Following the announcement of the conviction of this American student, officials under President Trump's administration condemned this action by the Islamic Republic's judicial system and called for his release.
Princeton University also released a statement from Hua Qiu, Shi Yu Wang's wife, which read: "He is not a spy, but a linguist, a historian who loves Iranian culture, a loyal husband, and a loving father."
Mr. Wang's imprisonment has contributed to the cooling of cultural and academic exchanges between Iran and the United States.
The arrest of this Chinese-American researcher prompted a response from more than a thousand university professors and prominent historians from 34 countries around the world, including the United States, who signed a statement calling for Zhiyu Wang's immediate release.
In the latest reaction from President Trump's administration, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a message on Twitter on the anniversary of the release of American diplomats held hostage in Iran, calling on the government of the Islamic Republic to release the Americans held hostage in Iran.
Source: Voice of America
