UN experts: Ahmad Reza Jalali's condition is truly horrific
UN human rights experts have expressed grave concern over the health of Ahmad Reza Jalali, an Iranian-Swedish doctor who has been imprisoned in Iran for more than four years. He has been sentenced to death on charges of espionage.
UN human rights experts expressed concern in a statement on Thursday, March 18, about the health condition of Ahmad Reza Jalali, an Iranian-Swedish physician and researcher sentenced to death on charges of espionage, in an Iranian prison.
Experts from the organization have described Jalali’s condition as “truly horrific” and have called for his release. According to a UN report, the Iranian-Swedish citizen was held in solitary confinement for more than 100 days, with the light in his cell on all the time, making it impossible for him to sleep.
These experts include the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, who is responsible for investigating extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detention and torture. They also said that Jalali was unable to eat enough due to medical problems, which caused him to lose a lot of weight.
"His condition is so severe that he is not even able to speak properly. We are shocked and concerned about his cruel mistreatment," the experts said.
Reuters, which published the report, wrote that the agency's contact with Iranian diplomats in Geneva for a response to this issue remained unanswered.
Ahmadreza Jalali is a physician and lecturer at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. He was arrested in 2016 while traveling to Iran, tried and sentenced to death on charges of “espionage and collaboration with hostile states.” The Supreme Court of Iran later upheld his death sentence. His lawyers have said that they were not allowed to present their documents before the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence.
UN experts have stressed that Jalali's confessions were extracted under torture and that his sentence was handed down in an unfair trial. The experts said that Iranian judicial authorities systematically hold prisoners in solitary confinement to punish and pressure them, as well as extract false confessions.
Human rights activists consider the detention of dual-national citizens imprisoned in Iran as hostages for bargaining and dealing with Western governments by the Islamic Republic.
Some reports indicate that the Islamic Republic has offered to exchange Ahmad Reza Jalali for Asadollah Asadi, an Iranian diplomat imprisoned in Belgium. Asadi has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for participating in and planning terrorist operations.
Recently, Kylie Moore Gilbert, a British-Australian citizen who was also accused of espionage, was exchanged for three Iranian prisoners in Thailand who had participated in terrorist operations.
Source: DW
