Ahmadreza Djalali, a 47-year-old university professor, has been detained in Iran for four years and sentenced to death. Before his arrest, which took place in April 2016 while he was in the Iranian capital for a seminar, he lived and carried out his research in Stockholm, where he had moved with his family for years.

During his detention, his health conditions have deteriorated dramatically. Recently from Evin prison, where he was kept in constant isolation, he was taken to another prison, and it is feared that he may be transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison shortly for execution. 

The Scholar at Risks network, of which Sapienza has been a member since 2019, has mobilised, together with Amnesty International and other organisations, to demand the suspension of the death sentence and the immediate release of Djalali for health reasons. The campaign is also supported by the CIVIS Alliance, Unica, the network of Universities from the Capitals of Europe and by Crui, the Conference of Italian University Rectors, that sent a letter to the Iranian authorities requesting the release of Djalali.

Sapienza supports the actions of SAR and shares the press release issued by the network. Press release

Scholar at Risk is an international network of universities founded in 1999 at the University of Chicago by academics and human rights defenders interested in promoting the principle of academic freedom and protecting academics whose lives are in danger or whose research and teaching work is severely compromised.