Iranian Doctor Residing in Sweden on Hunger Strike in Evin Prison

Another Iranian has joined the ranks of prisoners on hunger strike in Evin Prison. Ahmadreza Jalali, a doctor and resident of Sweden, was arrested on May 25 in Tehran, and has been in Evin Prison for nearly nine months, according to his wife, Vida Mehran-Nia. In an interview with Radio Farda, Mrs. Mehran-Nia revealed for the first time about her husband's imprisonment and stated that he has been on hunger strike for the past ten days. Ahmadreza Jalali, a researcher at the University of Piemonte in Italy, has spent seven months of his prison term in solitary confinement on charges of 'collaborating with the enemy.' Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabai, Jalali's defense lawyer, briefly told Radio Farda that his client has a 'security file' but refrained from providing further details. In an interview with Vida Mehran-Nia in Sweden, I first asked her why she had remained silent about her husband's imprisonment for these nine months. She said that security agents had advised her to remain silent, and they thought a mistake had been made and he would be released. She mentioned that her husband, Ahmadreza Jalali, is a scientific individual. Mrs. Mehran-Nia also stated that the prison interrogator threatened him with death and said he would be executed.