Sweden – Universitets Läraren, December 16, 2024
Six months after the prisoner exchange with Iran, the situation has only darkened for Ahmadreza Djalali, who is still imprisoned. Swedish universities should now completely boycott cooperation with Iran, says Lars Adaktusson, who is involved in the case.
On January 14, Ahmadreza Djalali turns 53. He has been imprisoned in Iran’s notorious Evin prison for eight years and nine months. His chances of survival were significantly reduced when he was not included in the prisoner swap with Sweden last summer, and even more so after Iran carried out the death sentence on another Iranian with European citizenship in October.
– He has been ill for a long time and cannot access medical care. “We need to find a new strategy to get him out because the current strategy has not worked,” says Ahmadreza Djalali’s wife Vida Mehrannia.
She is supported by Lars Adaktusson. For many years he has been fighting for the release of Ahmadreza Djalali, who was sentenced to death, first as a member of the European Parliament for the Christian Democrats (KD), then in the Riksdag and now as a free public debater.
– “It is high time to end research collaborations and withdraw visas for students and researchers from Iran to show the seriousness of the situation,” he says.
Swedish universities generally take the view that academic freedom is best strengthened by maintaining academic cooperation even in dictatorships. Lars Adaktusson agrees with this basic principle, but says that an exception is now needed because the situation is extraordinary and Ahmadreza Djalali’s life is in acute danger.
