WMA appeals for immediate release of jailed physician

The World Medical Association has again appealed to the Iranian authorities to release immediately and unconditionally an Iranian-born Swedish resident specialist in emergency medicine, Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali, who has been sentenced to death for the charge of “corruption on earth”.

Iran’s Supreme Court rejected Dr. Djalali’s last appeal and is now reviewing the death sentence before a final decision.

WMA President Dr. Yoshitake Yokokura, who wrote to the Chief Justice of Iran in November, has now made a second plea to the Iranian authorities. He said that Dr. Djalali is a prisoner of conscience and that there is no evidence demonstrating that he is anything other than an academic peacefully pursuing his profession.

‘Since his arrest and detention in April 2016, Dr Djalali has been denied the most fundamental human rights. He has been in solitary confinement and has been subjected to psychological torture. He was sentenced to death after a trial that failed to respect the most basic international standards for a fair trial, in violation with the rule of law. He was then forced to make a confession. He is now ill and needs urgent medical attention.

‘The WMA urges the Iranian authorities to revoke the death sentence for Dr. Djalali and to release him immediately’.

In November, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found the deprivation of liberty of Dr. Djalali to be arbitrary and in contravention of relevant provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Dr. Djalali, who lives in Sweden with his wife and two children, has consistently denied collaborating with any intelligence agency and has stated that he was imprisoned in Iran for refusing to spy for Iran’s security establishment.