Telegraph
British-Iranian educator sentenced to nine years in prison for ‘substandard’ research
The Iranian news agency Tasnim reported that Iran had sentenced a British-Iranian anthropologist to nine years in prison after accusing him of “bad” research. Kamil Ahmadi was fined ,000 600,000 (545,000), which Iranian officials reportedly received from companies accused of plotting to overthrow the regime. “Ahmadi has been accused of illegally acquiring assets from his cooperation in implementing the projects of low-level companies in the country,” Dasnim said. Mr Ahmadi, who has been researching controversial issues such as child marriage in Iran, was detained in August 2019, but was released on bail three months later, according to human rights groups. The European Union (EU) on Sunday summoned the German ambassador to Tehran for “unacceptable interference in Iran’s internal affairs” following the condemnation of the rule of Ruhollah Jamai, a leading journalist. Mr Jam was hanged on Saturday morning after being charged with “corruption on earth” in June, often used in cases involving espionage or attempts to overthrow the Iranian government. His website and telegram channel, Amatnews, have more than a million followers and are one of Iran’s most popular online news organizations within the Islamic Republic and its diaspora. His anti-corruption work, according to Iranian officials, sparked violence during the 2017 anti-government protests. Amatnews spread the time for the protests and leaked embarrassing information about officials who directly challenged the Iranian government. The European Union, which no longer has a delegation to Iran, is represented by the rotating member states that currently hold the presidency of the European Union Council, which is Germany. In a statement after his execution on Saturday, the EU said: “The EU strongly condemns this act and reiterates its undeniable opposition to the use of the death penalty in any situation.” Mr Jam, 47, was deported to Paris under refugee status and allegedly cheated on a trip to Iraq by Iranian authorities last year, where he was abducted and forced to return to Iran under mysterious circumstances. The French ambassador is expected to be summoned by the semi-official Force News Agency “for the intervention of his country’s officials in the judicial affairs of Iran”. “This is a barbaric and unacceptable act,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement after the execution, condemning the execution as a “severe blow” to freedom of speech in Iran.