Ahmadreza Jalali, Imprisoned Researcher, Goes on Hunger Strike Again

Vida Mehran-Nia, the wife of Ahmadreza Jalali, a researcher and imprisoned physician in Iran, reported in an interview with Radio Farda that following Judge Salavati's refusal to allow her husband's defense lawyers to represent him, Mr. Jalali has once again gone on hunger strike. On Wednesday, February 15, she told Radio Farda that after a promise from an intelligence ministry official to review her husband's case, Mr. Jalali had broken his hunger strike for three days, but after Judge Salavati personally informed him that none of his lawyers were permitted to defend him, Mr. Jalali resumed his hunger strike on Wednesday. Ahmadreza Jalali is a physician and researcher residing in Sweden who collaborates with the University of Piemonte in Italy in the field of crisis management. In recent years, he has traveled to Iran several times at the invitation of scientific and academic institutions to participate in research and scientific programs. In the latest of these trips, on April 24 of this year, Mr. Jalali was arrested in Tehran and spent about seven months in solitary confinement. This imprisoned researcher and physician began his hunger strike in early December in protest against the handling of his case. Previously, Vida Mehran-Nia, Ahmadreza Jalali's wife, and Amnesty International had reported that Judge Abolqasem Salavati, head of Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, had verbally told this imprisoned researcher that he would be sentenced to death on charges such as 'espionage' or 'collaboration with enemy countries.' However, shortly thereafter, a source familiar with Mr. Jalali's case told Radio Farda that 'an intelligence ministry official' in Evin prison had informed Ahmadreza Jalali that 'his case would be reviewed again.' Despite this, Ms. Mehran-Nia stated that Judge Salavati told her husband during a visit in Evin prison that none of the lawyers he had introduced were allowed to defend him, and Mr. Jalali is now without a lawyer. According to the wife of this imprisoned researcher, Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabai and Zeinab Taheri were two defense lawyers introduced by Ahmadreza Jalali, but Judge Salavati opposed both of them. On Wednesday, Ms. Mehran-Nia also told Radio Farda that, based on her information, her husband's issue was raised during the recent visit of the Swedish Prime Minister to Iran with officials of the Islamic Republic, but there was no specific response from them.