Amnesty International Condemns Iran's Supreme Court's Confirmation of Ahmadreza Jalali's Death Sentence

On Tuesday, December 12, Amnesty International stated that Iranian courts have "undermined the rule of law" by confirming the death sentence for an Iranian academic accused of "nuclear espionage." According to AFP, Amnesty International's statement indicated that on Saturday, Ahmadreza Jalali's defense lawyers were informed that Iran's Supreme Court upheld the death sentence "without giving the lawyers a chance to submit their defenses to the court." Ahmadreza Jalali was a visiting professor at a Belgian university when he was arrested during a trip to Iran last May. The accusation against this Sweden-based researcher was declared "corruption on earth" by the Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Salavati. Tehran's prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, claimed on October 24 that Jalali "held multiple meetings with over eight Mossad intelligence officers" and "transferred information related to military sites, the Atomic Energy Organization, and many other sensitive details in exchange for payment and residency in Sweden." However, Jalali states that he is being punished for refusing to spy for the Iranian government in Europe. Magdalena Mughrabi, a Middle East official at Amnesty International, stated: "This is not only a shocking violation of the right to a fair trial but also a blatant violation of Mr. Jalali's right to life." She urged Iranian authorities to immediately abolish the death penalty and guarantee a fair and genuine review process for him. Amnesty International reported that Jalali's lawyers have repeatedly attempted to submit their defenses to the Supreme Court over the past months but have always faced resistance from that institution. Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, stated during Jalali's initial sentencing in November that "one of the convict's actions was to disclose the location and information related to 30 important individuals in military and nuclear research projects." He added that this information led to the assassination of two Iranian nuclear scientists, Majid Shahriari and Masoud Ali Mohammadi, who were killed in 2010 during heightened tensions between Iran and the international community over Tehran's nuclear program due to explosions. AFP quoted Jalali's lawyers as saying that the evidence presented in the initial trial was obtained under pressure and does not confirm the accusations against him at all. Between 2010 and 2012, five Iranian scholars, four of whom were involved in Tehran's nuclear program, were assassinated in bombings or armed attacks in Tehran. The Islamic Republic of Iran has accused the U.S. and Israeli governments of assassinating these scholars. Majid Shahriari, a senior official at Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, and Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, deputy of the Natanz enrichment facility, were among those killed in these assassinations. In 2012, the Iranian government executed Majid Jamali Fashi for cooperating with the Mossad and participating in the murder of Ali Mohammadi. Since then, three others, including Shahram Amiri, have been hanged for cooperating with Israel and the U.S. In this context, Iran announced the issuance of a death sentence for a "Mossad collaborator" in the assassination of "nuclear scientists." Nobel laureates have called for the release of Ahmadreza Jalali. The Supreme Court of Iran has "confirmed" the death sentence of Ahmadreza Jalali, a researcher. Amnesty International has called for the immediate abolition of Ahmadreza Jalali's death sentence.