The Flemish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee has invited the Iranian ambassador to provide it will information on the fate of the Iranian-Swedish Ahmadreza Djalali. Mr Djalali, who is also a guest professor at Brussels Dutch-Medium Free University (VUB) has been imprisoned in Iran since 2016.
Flemish Parliament invites Iranian ambassador to give information on the fate of Ahmadreza Djalali
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The Speaker of Flemish Parliament Freya Van den Bossche (socialist) and Chair of the parliament’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee Bogdan Vanden Berghe (green) said in a joint statement released on Thursday that “After three months without any news, concern about the condition of Prof. Ahmadreza Djalali is greater than ever. MPs therefore want to obtain more information from the Iranian ambassador”.
Professor Djalali is a specialist in disaster medicine and also teaches as a guest professor at the VUB. He was arrested in his native Iran during a working visit in 2016. In 2017 he was sentenced to death after having been convicted on charges of espionage and complicity in the killing of 2 Iranian nuclear scientists.
Earlier this year Professor Djalali had a heart attack while incarcerated at Evin Prison in Tehran. After Israel bombed the prison, he and other inmates were taken to the Greater Tehran Penitentiary. He has since been taken elsewhere. Since 23 June there has been no news of or word from the academic. He whereabouts and state of health are unknown.
Last week, The Foreign Affairs Select Committee and the Speaker of the Flemish Parliament held talks with Professor Djalali’s wife Vida Mehrannia. After the meeting the committee member agreed unanimously to summon the Iranian Ambassador.