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Ahmad Reza Djalali
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Ahmad Reza Djalali
Ahmad Reza Djalali (born 15 September 1971) is an Iranian-Swedish physician and researcher in disaster medicine. He has worked at several European universities, including the Karolinska University of Sweden, where he earned his PhD, the Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale, and Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He has also collaborated with universities in Iran and maintained international academic connections.
Djalali was arrested in April 2016 while visiting Iran and later sentenced to death on charges of espionage and treason. Human rights organizations have described his trial as unfair. Djalali has stated that he was tortured and threatened during his detention. His case has been described by human rights advocates as a form of retaliatory punishment linked to international legal proceedings, and possibly a case of academic hostage diplomacy.
Djalali’s academic work focuses on emergency and disaster medicine. He has conducted research in countries including Italy, Sweden, Denmark, and Iran. He was one of the key founders of the Research Center in Emergency and Disaster Medicine (CRIMEDIM) at the University of Eastern Piedmont in Italy. His studies have examined how prepared hospitals are for disasters such as earthquakes,, armed conflicts, and large-scale emergencies involving Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear.
His research has been widely cited and highlights the need for better staff training and planning in hospitals. One of his 2016 studies assessed how well Emergency Departments staff in Italy understood disaster protocols and found that more education and follow-up were needed.
Djalali also contributed to the development of disaster medicine training programs for both undergraduate and postgraduate medical students. In 2020, he was offered a fellowship in Disaster Medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, which included a research appointment at Harvard Medical School. In the award letter, the program director described Djalali as “a strong academician and leader. As a Disaster Medicine fellow, you will represent all of us through your academic diligence, professionalism, and conduct He was also formally awarded a "Scholars at Risk" fellowship by Harvard University in recognition of his work and unjust detention.
In April 2016, when he was visiting Iran following an invitation from the University of Tehran and Shiraz University, he was arrested upon order of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, without a reason for arrest. Two weeks later he was charged with espionage and collaboration with Israel, the proof being an alleged letter from his spouse, which was said to contain evidence of the accusations. His family was not informed on his whereabouts for ten days, though they knew he had been arrested. After being held at an unknown location for approximately seven days, he was transferred to section 209 of Evin prison, where he was held for seven months. During the calls made to his family, Djalali said he had been held in solitary confinement for three months, and the following months in partial isolation.
On 31 January 2017, after nine months of detention, Djalali was taken to branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran where he was formally charged with espionage and was told that he could face the death penalty. Reportedly, his lawyer was not allowed to be present at the hearing and was denied access to the case files.
Djalali was sentenced to death on 21 October 2017, on the charge of “corruption on Earth” (ifsad fil-arz). He was then incarcerated at Evin prison. In November 2017, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention formally requested the Iranian Government to provide detailed information about his detention but did not receive a response. In late 2017, on Iranian state-sponsored television, they presented him as a spy and showed an alleged confession which, according to Djalali, was a pre-written text that he was forced to read under threat of execution and threats of harming his loved ones. Attempts by his lawyer to submit appeals for judicial review of the sentence have been rejected.
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Ahmad Reza Djalali
Ahmad Reza Djalali (born 15 September 1971) is an Iranian-Swedish physician and researcher in disaster medicine. He has worked at several European universities, including the Karolinska University of Sweden, where he earned his PhD, the Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale, and Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He has also collaborated with universities in Iran and maintained international academic connections.
Djalali was arrested in April 2016 while visiting Iran and later sentenced to death on charges of espionage and treason. Human rights organizations have described his trial as unfair. Djalali has stated that he was tortured and threatened during his detention. His case has been described by human rights advocates as a form of retaliatory punishment linked to international legal proceedings, and possibly a case of academic hostage diplomacy.
Djalali’s academic work focuses on emergency and disaster medicine. He has conducted research in countries including Italy, Sweden, Denmark, and Iran. He was one of the key founders of the Research Center in Emergency and Disaster Medicine (CRIMEDIM) at the University of Eastern Piedmont in Italy. His studies have examined how prepared hospitals are for disasters such as earthquakes,, armed conflicts, and large-scale emergencies involving Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear.
His research has been widely cited and highlights the need for better staff training and planning in hospitals. One of his 2016 studies assessed how well Emergency Departments staff in Italy understood disaster protocols and found that more education and follow-up were needed.
Djalali also contributed to the development of disaster medicine training programs for both undergraduate and postgraduate medical students. In 2020, he was offered a fellowship in Disaster Medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, which included a research appointment at Harvard Medical School. In the award letter, the program director described Djalali as “a strong academician and leader. As a Disaster Medicine fellow, you will represent all of us through your academic diligence, professionalism, and conduct He was also formally awarded a "Scholars at Risk" fellowship by Harvard University in recognition of his work and unjust detention.
In April 2016, when he was visiting Iran following an invitation from the University of Tehran and Shiraz University, he was arrested upon order of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, without a reason for arrest. Two weeks later he was charged with espionage and collaboration with Israel, the proof being an alleged letter from his spouse, which was said to contain evidence of the accusations. His family was not informed on his whereabouts for ten days, though they knew he had been arrested. After being held at an unknown location for approximately seven days, he was transferred to section 209 of Evin prison, where he was held for seven months. During the calls made to his family, Djalali said he had been held in solitary confinement for three months, and the following months in partial isolation.
On 31 January 2017, after nine months of detention, Djalali was taken to branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran where he was formally charged with espionage and was told that he could face the death penalty. Reportedly, his lawyer was not allowed to be present at the hearing and was denied access to the case files.
Djalali was sentenced to death on 21 October 2017, on the charge of “corruption on Earth” (ifsad fil-arz). He was then incarcerated at Evin prison. In November 2017, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention formally requested the Iranian Government to provide detailed information about his detention but did not receive a response. In late 2017, on Iranian state-sponsored television, they presented him as a spy and showed an alleged confession which, according to Djalali, was a pre-written text that he was forced to read under threat of execution and threats of harming his loved ones. Attempts by his lawyer to submit appeals for judicial review of the sentence have been rejected.