Twitter Storm: 'Free Omid' Campaign

Yesterday, after a photo of Omid Kokabi in a hospital bed was published, many social media users called for his release, making this demand one of the hottest topics on Twitter. Omid Kokabi is a physics researcher who has been in prison without leave for five years and three months. On Wednesday, he underwent surgery at Sina Hospital in Tehran, where one of his kidneys was completely removed due to kidney cancer. Following the news and a photo of him, users on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram addressed the issue, demanding his freedom and access to healthcare. Despite Twitter being filtered in Iran, Iranian users quickly turned the hashtags #FreeOmid and #OmidKokabi into the hottest trends on Twitter, generating a wave of tweets. These hashtags have been used in over two hundred thousand tweets. On Instagram, more than 1500 images in memory of Omid Kokabi have been shared, with notable figures like Jafar Panahi and Mahnaz Afshar also addressing the issue in their posts. Omid Kokabi, a laser physics researcher, was studying at the University of Texas at Austin when he was arrested at the airport while returning to the U.S. after a trip to Iran in 2010. He was sentenced to ten years in prison on charges of having connections with hostile governments and acquiring illicit wealth. This sentence was not changed upon appeal. In a letter from prison two years ago, Kokabi wrote that he was asked to cooperate with Iran's nuclear program or endure ten years in prison. He stated that a scientist should not participate in activities harmful to humanity. About two years ago, after Kokabi's case was raised, 18 Nobel Prize winners in Physics wrote a letter to Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of Iran, demanding his release. The letter stated that Mr. Kokabi was imprisoned 'only for refusing to cooperate with the military research centers of the Islamic Republic of Iran.'