Open Letter from Dozens of Professors to Rouhani and Larijani in Defense of Bahareh Hedayat

Dozens of professors from prestigious universities around the world have issued an open letter to the President and the Head of the Judiciary of Iran, calling for an end to the "nightmarish" conditions of prison and "injustice" against Bahareh Hedayat, a jailed student activist. According to a report on Thursday, September 26, from the Kalemeh website, close to Mir Hossein Mousavi, these university professors emphasized that Bahareh Hedayat should have been released from prison earlier this year based on her "original" sentence, but this week she was informed that she must spend another two years in prison. The letter has been signed by professors such as Noam Chomsky, Ervand Abrahamian, Hamid Dabashi, Tarsten Axon, Naje Ali, Golbarg Bashi, Asef Bayat, Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Juan Cole, Dick Davis, Kaveh Ehsani, Farideh Farahi, Mark Galisrooski, David Harvey, Nader Hashemi, Hossein Kamali, and Ahmad Karimi Hakak. These professors wrote to Hassan Rouhani and Sadegh Amoli Larijani that "based on evidence and reports, we had hoped that Iran would prioritize more social reforms in the wake of nuclear agreements." Arang Keshavarzian, Laleh Khalili, Mehdi Khorrami, Kamran Matin, Ziba Mir Hosseini, Ali Mirsepassi, Kamran Rostgar, Ruth Rubio Marin, Mahmoud Sadri, Mohammad Sahimi, Annabel Serberni, Richard Tapper, Peyman Wahabzadeh, and Ethan Zuckerman are among the other signatories of this letter. Amin Ahmadian, Bahareh Hedayat's husband, stated on Sunday, August 25, that according to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, she should have been released in her sixth year of imprisonment, and the court had issued a ruling for her release, but her freedom has currently been obstructed by reopening a case from 2006. According to Article 134 of the new Islamic Penal Code, although the judge issues independent punishments for each crime, only the most severe punishment should be executed at the stage of enforcement. The new two-year prison sentence for Bahareh Hedayat stems from a ruling issued in 2006 following her arrest during a gathering to support women's rights in Tehran's Haft Tir Square. This ruling was suspended until Ms. Hedayat was sentenced to nine years and six months in prison in 2009 on charges including insulting the leadership, insulting the president, and acting against national security. After the 2009 presidential election, many student activists and members of the Office for Strengthening Unity in Iran were arrested and sentenced to long-term imprisonment, including Milad Asadi, Majid Tavakoli, Zia Nabavi, Majid Dary, Shabnam Madadzadeh, Mehdi Khodaei, and Emad Bahavar. Some of these students have been released after serving their prison sentences.