Omid Kokabi's Prison Sentence Sent to Appeals Court

The Supreme Court of Iran has challenged the rulings of the lower and appeals courts that sentenced young Iranian physicist Omid Kokabi to 10 years in prison, returning his case for reconsideration to the appeals court. The website Kaleme reported on Tuesday, December 7, that the Supreme Court of Iran, by accepting Kokabi's request for retrial, has questioned the evidence presented by the lower and appeals courts that convicted this young elite Iranian; a process that could lead to the release of this imprisoned student. According to the ruling of the Supreme Court and the authorization for retrial in Kokabi's case, his sentence has been described as unjust and erroneous. The 36th branch of the Supreme Court, which handled this matter, found the 10-year prison sentence issued by the 15th branch of the Revolutionary Court and upheld by the 36th branch of the appeals court to be contrary to legal standards and containing multiple flaws, sending the case back for "reconsideration" to the 54th branch of the Tehran appeals court. Given the fundamental objections raised by the Supreme Court regarding the sentence, there is a possibility that Omid Kokabi could be acquitted or at least receive a lighter sentence. This imprisoned elite has been in detention and prison for nearly four years; he was arrested and imprisoned when he returned to Iran in February 2011 to visit his family and, after spending 15 months in prison without trial, was sentenced to ten years in prison on charges of "communicating with a hostile government" and "earning illicit income." One of the references cited by the Supreme Court in deeming Kokabi's sentence unlawful is an inquiry made to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which stated that, apart from Israel, which is not recognized by Iran and therefore does not qualify as a state, no government currently qualifies as a "hostile government to Iran," and political disagreements with countries cannot be considered a form of hostility. The Supreme Court also cited that Kokabi "was not in a position to access classified and confidential information" as another reason to reject the sentence issued against him, emphasizing that "discussing and expressing important scientific ideas at scientific conferences and receiving awards or facilities for academic and educational successes is not considered a crime." Meanwhile, 187 doctoral students and graduates from various universities around the world have signed a letter addressed to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic and the heads of the three branches of government, calling for medical attention for Kokabi and for the current judicial process to be pursued until justice is served and he is freed. Omid Kokabi achieved the 39th rank in the national university entrance exam and the third rank in the Iranian Chemistry Olympiad. He completed his doctoral studies in Barcelona, Spain, and was invited to the University of Texas to complete his education. Shortly after his arrest, he wrote a letter to the head of the judiciary, published in Kaleme, stating that he considers the entire process of arrest, accusation, and interrogation to be illegal and that he was forced to confess under conditions of "fear, intimidation, coercion, threats, and solitary confinement," regretting the things he confessed to. Kokabi later wrote another letter to Sadegh Larijani, referencing promises made to him and his family to cooperate with the most secure section of Iran related to nuclear activities, arguing, "Today, when I have committed no wrongdoing and have no knowledge of the regime's secret matters and activities, I am treated this way, and my entire life and family have effectively been taken hostage. In the future, if I agree to cooperate and as a result become aware of this information and secrets, how will I be treated?" This scientific elite was recently transferred, along with over 75 prisoners, to quarantine in section 7 of Evin Prison as part of a security project to dissolve section 350 of Evin. A few months ago, a group of scientists, university professors, and Nobel Prize winners wrote a letter to Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, calling for the release of Omid Kokabi. In this context, Amnesty International protested the denial of permission for medical treatment for Kokabi.