Iran
Ahmedreza Djalali was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to death for espionage. Photo: Amnesty International
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A Swedish-Iranian doctor on death row in Tehran has been granted a reprieve, his lawyer has said.
Ahmedreza Djalali’s execution, widely believed to have been scheduled for today, has been postponed, Halale Mousavian told Radio Farda on Wednesday.
After making enquiries, she was informed that Djalali was not transferred to Rajaei-Shahr prison, despite earlier reports he had been moved yesterday. The prison, located in Karaj near the capital of Tehran, is said to often execute prisoners on Wednesdays.
Reports of his transfer prompted a flurry of response on social media on Tuesday evening, with Amnesty International and former prisoners held in Iran appealing to Tehran to stop the killing.
It is unclear if the reprieve is temporary.
“The only way now is for his adopted country to do something and if something is to happen it can only be done through negotiation with Swedish authorities,” Mousavian said.
Djalali was arrested in October 2016 after travelling to Iran from his long-term base of Sweden, reportedly at the invitation of the University of Tehran. He was sentenced to death on charges of espionage, which he has vehemently denied – saying he was tortured to give a false confession, and punished for refusing to spy for Iran in Europe.
Iran previously warned against foreign intervention after Foreign Minister Ann Linde spoke out on Djalili’s execution, saying Sweden is strongly opposed to the death penalty.
"Sweden denounces the death penalty and is working to not have the sentence against Djalali carried out," Linde tweeted last week.
The reprieve comes a week after British-Australian academic Dr Kylie Moore Gilbert was released from Tehran’s Evin prison after two years in jail.
The academic was freed in exchange for three prisoners connected with a failed bomb attack in Thailand.
Prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has called for Djajli’s release as she is sent back to Qarchak - regarded as one of Iran’s harshest prisons – after being temporarily released early last month.
Sotoudeh, who suffers from chronic health problems, has taken part in several hunger strikes since her arrest in 2018, one in protest of dire prison conditions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
She urged for more attention to be paid to Djalali’s case via a Facebook post shared by her husband on Wednesday.
“I don't like to say how I haven't been able to hug my children in the last three weeks due to coronavirus. But I have a duty to express my concern about the situation of Ahmedreza Djalali and ask all those who have the facilities to support to pay attention to his case. Release Ahmadreza Djalali, today,” she said.
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