Sentenced to death KI researcher criticizes the government • “Doesn’t seem to be a priority for them”
When the Swedes Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi were released last year in exchange for Hamid Noury, who was convicted of crimes against international law, Ahmadreza Djalali remained in Iranian prison.
When the Swedish-Iranian KI researcher Ahmadreza Djalali turns 53 on Tuesday, he is still imprisoned. In an audio recording, he talks about the desperation he feels.
– It has now been eight years and nine months since I was imprisoned in Evin Prison in Iran. 3,185 days without a break in a horrible cell. Recently, my family spent their ninth Christmas and the beginning of a new year without me, says Djalali and continues:
– My son was only four years old when I was detained and he is now 13 years old.
Health is failing
Ahmadreza Djalali was a researcher at Karolinska Institutet for eight years. He was arrested in Iran in 2016, accused of spying for Israel, and is sentenced to death. In 2018, he became a Swedish citizen.
According to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M), the government tried to get Djalali released in connection with the exchange for Noury, but Iran does not recognize him as a Swedish citizen and did not want to discuss the case.
In the audio recording, Djalali states that his health is failing. The researcher suffers from gastritis, gallstones and heart rhythm disturbances, which in the worst case could lead to cardiac arrest.
– The Swedish authorities are informed about me but nothing has been done to improve my situation. It does not seem to be a priority for them what can happen to me as a Swedish citizen. While I am in danger of dying either by execution or by ill health. The decision made seven months ago confirmed this assumption, he says.
– I was left in the middle of a terrible situation with imminent risk of being executed. It seems that because of my dual citizenship I am considered a second-class citizen, the researcher continues.
Appeal to Sweden
Djalali is now appealing to the authorities to increase their efforts to bring him home to Sweden.
– We continue to hear the same words from the Swedish authorities. They are following my case but virtually no improvement has been made and no real steps have been taken to get me home. I am still helpless.
Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard writes in a comment to TV4 Nyheterna that the work to get Djalali released continues:
“I feel for his family and relatives. Our work for Ahmadreza Djalali continues unabated. Djalali must be released on humanitarian grounds so that he can be reunited with his family”.
Malmer Stenergard further states that the government has repeatedly told Iran that the death sentence must not be carried out.
“The government and the security services did everything for Djalali to come home together with Floderus and Azizi. Unfortunately, Iran did not want to discuss him at all, they do not recognize him as a Swedish citizen because he was only an Iranian citizen when he was arrested. Djalali was also arrested long before Hamid Noury was arrested in Sweden and thus for reasons other than being a pawn in Iran’s cynical game to get Noury released from Sweden.”