Zaratosht Ahmadi Ragheb on the 19th day of his hunger strike: I will continue until Ahmad Reza Jalali's death sentence is overturned

On the nineteenth day of his new hunger strike, Zaratosht Ahmadi Ragheb, in a message from prison, called on "compatriots and all human rights activists" to join the demand to overturn Ahmad Reza Jalali's death sentence.

Mr. Ahmadi Ragheb, a political prisoner, sent an audio message from Rajai Shahr Prison in Alborz Province on Sunday, May 15, a copy of which has been received by the Voice of America Persian Service.

This imprisoned civil activist has emphasized that he will continue his hunger strike in protest until the death sentence of Ahmad Reza Jalali, a dual Iranian-Swedish prisoner, is overturned.

Stating that "many Iranian people oppose murder, crime, and oppression and brutality," he called on them to "join us in sending oppression and brutality to hell."

In addition to Zaratosht Ahmadi Ragheb, imprisoned civil activist Farhad Meysami has also gone on a hunger strike to protest Mr. Jalali's death sentence.

Zabihollah Khodayian, a spokesman for the judiciary, announced on Tuesday, May 10, that Ahmad Reza Jalali's death sentence is final and "the judiciary will act based on the issued verdict."

Enrique Moura, the European Union's deputy foreign policy chief and coordinator of the JCPOA revival talks, who traveled to Tehran to end the stalled Iran nuclear talks, said he had called on the Islamic Republic's authorities to release Ahmadreza Jalali, an Iranian-Swedish citizen sentenced to death on charges of espionage, on humanitarian grounds.

Also, Swedish Foreign Minister Anne Linde and US State Department spokesman Ned Price expressed concern about the possibility of Ahmad Reza Jalali's execution and called for his release.

Ahmadreza Jalali, born in 1977 in Sarab, East Azerbaijan Province, is a physician and university professor of Iranian descent and a Swedish citizen. A researcher in crisis management and emergencies, he was arrested by Ministry of Intelligence agents in May 2016 while traveling to Iran to attend an academic conference. After nine months in prison, including three months in solitary confinement, Jalali was convicted of espionage by a Revolutionary Court without a lawyer present, and was later sentenced to death, Amnesty International reported.

Source: Voice of America