Today is International Human Rights Day
The EUTOPIA alliance is supporting the actions of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel to secure the release of its guest professor Dr Ahmadreza Djalali from prison in Iran, where he has been held since 2016. EUTOPIA is an alliance consisting of the University of Gothenburg, CY Cergy Paris Université, Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, University of Warwick, University of Ljubljana and VUB. EUTOPIA was officially recognised as a European University by the European Commission in 2019.
The universities are sending a joint statement to the Iranian embassies in their country – Belgium, Sweden, France, Spain, the UK and Slovenia – asking the Iranian authorities to review Dr Djalali’s case and release him. They are also sending it to their respective governments and to the EU, urging them to continue the political and diplomatic efforts to secure Dr Djalali’s release. The universities also call on their community to actively support Amnesty International’s #SaveAhmadreza campaign.
“One of the core values of EUTOPIA is to prepare its students and staff to be European citizens, acting with care for the future of our planet and humanity. Professor Djalali’s terrible fate is therefore a threat to everything EUTOPIA stands for: academic freedom, human rights and human dignity. So we are very happy to count on the support of our network to continue to demand his release,” says rector Caroline Pauwels.
EUTOPIA STATEMENT:
EUTOPIA UNIVERSITY ALLIANCE URGES THE IRANIAN GOVERNMENT TO RELEASE DR AHMADREZA DJALALI FROM HIS IMPRISONMENT, DEATH SENTENCE AND IMMINENT EXECUTION
The EUTOPIA alliance and its six-member universities: CY Cergy Paris Université, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, University of Gothenburg, Univerza v Ljubljani, the University of Warwick and Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), call on the Iranian government to act urgently to release Swedish citizen, VUB guest lecturer Dr Ahmadreza Djalali from his imprisonment and death sentence.
The EUTOPIA Alliance welcomes the Iranian government’s recent release from prison of the University of Melbourne academic Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert and asks that the same clemency be applied to Dr Ahmadreza Djalali.
Dr Djalali is attached to VUB and the UniversitĂ Degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale in Italy as a guest lecturer, and an alumnus of the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. We ask the Iranian government to review his case urgently, and to act with mercy and a respect for academic freedom by releasing him from his charges and the risk of imminent execution.
Our Alliance asks the Belgian, French, Spanish, Slovenian, Swedish, UK and European authorities to support actively our appeal to the Iranian government and to press for the immediate release of Dr Djalali through all diplomatic and political channels. We thank all of the political leaders and diplomats, and many colleagues and volunteers, who are already actively pressing for Dr Djalali’s release.
Eva Wiberg, Vice-Chancellor, University of Gothenburg, Chair EUTOPIA alliance
François Germinet, President, CY Cergy Paris Université
Caroline Pauwels, Rector, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Igor PapiÄŤ, Rector, Univerza v Ljubljani
Jaume Casals, Rector, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Stuart Croft, Vice-Chancellor and President, University of Warwick