The daughter of Ahmadreza Djalali, the Swedish Iranian guest lecturer at the Flemish Free University of Brussels (VUB) is sounding the alarm. The woman doesn’t want her name in the media because she is scared of the Iranian regime, but out of fear for the life of her father, who was condemned to death in Iran in 2017, she has now spoken in public for the first time.
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Daughter of Iranian VUB lecturer on death row speaks to VRT
“The quieter it gets around his case, the greater the risk my father will be executed” the 20-year-old tells VRT’s Inge Vrancken on the phone from Sweden.
The family of the 51-year-old lecturer, who worked at the VUB in Brussels, is worried it has become so quiet around his case: “It’s important we talk about him. Every silence gives Iran an opportunity to execute him without warning”.
The execution of British-Iranian Alireza Akbari on 14 January set alarm bells ringing. “This execution shows that Iran knows no mercy, not even for foreign and European nationals. They will carry out an execution to show their power. The fear is always with us: that they will execute him on the quiet and only let us know afterwards”.
Ahmadreza Djalali is an emergency doctor specialising in disaster medicine. He formed part of a research group working for the Flemish Free VUB and Italy’s UPO University in Navarro. During a work visit to Iran in 2016 he was arrested. A year later he was convicted of espionage and sentenced to death.
Human rights organisations like Amnesty International says prisoners hardly ever get a fair trial and confessions are made under great pressure.
Ahmadreza Djalali’s case was in the headlines for many years and many actions were staged to put pressure on Iran to free him. Attention waned after Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine, protests in Iran and the arrest of Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele.
A new prisoner exchange treaty between Belgium and Iran won’t advance Ahmadreza Djalali’s case as it only applies to Belgian nationals. Ahmadreza holds a Swedish passport.
His daughter was 13 when he was arrested and is now 20. Just like him she studied medicine: “The worst days are the holidays” she told VRT. “They are milestones in our lives. It’s had to celebrate them because he is not by our side”.
At school Ahmadreza’s daughter dreamed of him being present when she completed her school at the age of 18. “There would be a party, but it was one without my father” she told Inge Vrancken.
“From the start I realised what was happening. His arrest, his death sentence, his incarceration in solitary confinement. It was all so difficult”.
Her brother was 4 when his father was arrested. He is now 11. “Growing up without a father has marked him. Sometimes we spoke with father on the phone from prison. My brother simply couldn’t understand why he didn’t come home. Now he is 11 we can explain it to him. Not a day passes without our thoughts being with father. Thinking how much time has been taken away from us leaves a bitter taste”.
Tension mounted in 2021 when an execution was being prepared. “He wasn’t allowed to phone us, only his family in Iran. They put the phone on speaker so we could follow their conversation”.
Today he’s allowed to phone again. Usually three short calls a week.
“The calls proceed under supervision. He can’t say very much. He just asks us how it’s been at school”.
“It’s such a reassurance to hear his voice. We’re so happy to hear him, but you hear the pain in his voice, the psychological pressure he is under”.
Ahmadreza‘s family doesn’t know what more can be done to free him. “Belgium’s been fantastic. We got a lot of support from people and government, from his colleagues at the VUB. We are so grateful and it’s a source of hope, but we’re worried Iran becomes unpredictable and loses patience”.
“So much has been undertaken to free him, but it’s never enough. It will only be enough when he is free. Politicians and people in power do what they can, but precise actions that yield a result should be possible, not just condemnations. Every day we hope this nightmare will stop”.