Professor’s Iran death sentence confirmed as appeals rejected
Attempts to overturn the death sentence handed to a professor in the Iranian courts have failed, according to the academic’s lawyer.
Appeals against the conviction of Swedish resident Ahmadreza Djalali were lodged by several organisations, including Amnesty International, the UN, and Sweden’s foreign ministry.
A specialist in improving hospitals’ emergency responses to terrorism and other threats, Mr Djalali, 45, was convicted of spying for Israel.
The father of two was arrested during a trip to Iran in April 2016. He was found guilty in October last year of passing information about Iranian nuclear scientists to the Mossad intelligence agency.
An appeal in December and a further plea to have the sentence quashed were denied.
His lawyer told the newspaper Le Soir: “This time the sentence is definitive. It has been confirmed that the death penalty can be carried out, and it can happen at any time.”
Mr Djalali, who is being held in Tehran’s Evin Prison, is believed to be suffering from a possible tumour but attempts to arrange for medical attention have been rejected.
Meanwhile, hopes that Briton Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe would be released soon have been dashed and the young mother remains in detention.
She is serving a five-year sentence over allegations of plotting to overthrow the Tehran government.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe denies all of the accusations.