A letter signed by 16,000 political and civil activists calling for the release of Omid Kokabi
A large group of Iranian political and civil activists, artists, and journalists have written a letter to Ban Ki-moon urging him to use “all possible means” to free Omid Kokabi, a young scientist who is facing death threats.
16,000 people, including prominent figures such as Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Nasrin Sotoudeh, lawyer and human rights activist, Mohammad Maleki, former president of Tehran University, Jafar Panahi, director, and many other familiar names, have written a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urging him to take action to free Omid Kokabi and to use all possible means to do so.
In this letter to the UN Secretary-General, they wrote: “Omid Kokabi’s physical condition is such that she should no longer remain in prison, and delaying her release could cause irreparable harm to her health. The Islamic Republic of Iran must be forced to release Omid, and her family must decide for themselves where to continue their child’s treatment. Our goal as the authors of this letter is to draw your attention to the case of Omid Kokabi. We call for all possible means to be used to free Omid from prison.”
The group, which has signed the letter from Iran and around the world, emphasized that "the main reason for Omid Kokabi's imprisonment is his refusal to cooperate with the military projects of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He has been convicted on trumped-up charges, such as having ties to universities and academic centers abroad."
They explained about Omid Kokbi: "He is a prominent physics student, with no history of political activism, and is now struggling with life-threatening psychological and physical injuries."
The letter also describes the story of Omid Kokabi's arrest. Among other things, he returned to Iran in 2011 to visit his family, but was arrested at the airport on January 11 of that year while leaving Iran and sentenced to ten years in prison.
Omid Kokabi is a physicist and postdoctoral fellow in atomic physics, focusing on laser research at the University of Texas. Human rights activists say that the sole reason for his arrest and imprisonment is his failure to cooperate with the Iranian government’s military projects. The authors of the letter wrote: “He has been convicted on trumped-up charges, such as having ties to universities and scientific centers abroad. Instead of violating his ethical principles of not using his scientific knowledge for destructive purposes, he took a strong and heroic stance by resisting pressure and even enduring imprisonment. Many institutions have shown their respect for Omid Kokabi by awarding him human rights awards.”
In the past few days, Iranian social media has been filled with photos of Omid Kokabi lying on a hospital bed with a kidney removed. The photo has drawn many reactions. The letter states: “Omid Kokabi has been suffering from acute kidney disease for two years, while prison officials have denied her access to advanced medical treatment. We have been faced with shocking news in the past few days: Omid’s lawyer announced that she has unfortunately been diagnosed with a type of kidney cancer (renal cell carcinoma) caused by a malignant tumor in her right kidney. Omid underwent an emergency nephrectomy and her right kidney was removed. The Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for Omid’s health and must be held accountable for any unfortunate events that may happen to her.”
The letter's authors have even expressed concern elsewhere that, given Omid Kokabi's scientific status, "there is a hidden will within the political establishment that he should be alive outside of prison."
Source: Deutsche Welle
