Several years ago, in April 2016. Dr Ahmadreza Djalali, a researcher in emergency medicine, was arrested by the Iranian authorities on the suspicion of being a spy.
Shortly after, he was 'condemned' to death and was sent to the Evin prison waiting for his execution.
His colleagues started a mobilization and some other people organized petitions.
Petitions after petitions, indignation after indignation, more than a hundred Nobel prizes, mostly in scientific disciplines (physics, medicine, chemistry...), wrote a letter to the Iranian authorities asking for human treatment of Dr. Djalali and his release.
So what happened? Nothing except that Dr. Djalali has not been executed yet.
'They' just wait for a better moment. His death sentence was not reconsidered. Dr. Djalali is very ill and may have leukemia. Imagine as well the terrible psychological stress to wait for an execution that can happen any day!
Everybody sleeps well because "he should be freed soon, very soon" ... I hardly see how that's going to happen without some plan.
As for me, I have already been in touch with the relevant people about him and what strategy scientists should adopt. The petition with the Nobel prizes was my idea but anyway it was done much too late.
Scientists now rely (relied?) on the European Union 'diplomacy' to have Djalali released.
I already mentioned to the interested parties what strategy 'WE' should adopt, acting as an organization and not relying on vanishing powers and crooked third party 'human rights' consultants.
There is a proverb that says "The pen is mightier than the sword".
Actually yes... I agree... a pen is easier to use in close combat by pushing it into each of the eyes of your adversary very fast.
Sometimes it is better to be John Rambo than Albert Einstein... (*)
This is certainly very provocative but it also underlines the very limit of such reasoning. An association such as the "concerned scientists' or 'endangered scholars' have nothing to offer but ... 'writing'.
A boycott has never even been considered as an option. No university, no academic institution wants to take the risk to lose some piece of a cake - as small as it can be. After all, we're all here to make money in one way or another, isn't it? Money is a question of survival and nobody would want to take a chance to do the bad move.
The employees of 'scholars at risk' and others get paid, they get salaries to give 'advice', to provide 'help'. That help is totally useless. Even worse, as long as Dr. Djalali is in jail, there will be a small 'industry' working with it.
Nobody will do any sacrifice again. In terms of careers, reputations. Things must stay smooth.
Then why we don't just forget Dr. Djalali rather than playing that abject comedy? Indignation is a good business and it has the merit of combining money and pride.
There are other ways to try to free Dr. Djalali than writing letters and sending balloons in the air!
I think that specialists can unite their power and strengths to come to the help of each other.
When the great soviet physicist Lev Landau had a terrible car accident in 1962 and was between life and death, all the physicists, medicine specialists of the time teamed altogether to build a device aimed at saving his life, an artificial lung, something that was unprecedented at the time. These were real men of science!
But they say now, we must start praising the merits of 'female brains'... these words sound like 'military intelligence' ... they are perfect opposition of each other! Yet with their basic methods, they both quite dominate us.
There should be a mobilization from scientists to actively and frantically rescue Dr. Djalali because if he dies in jail, scientists won't get anymore the 'magical' protection they used to have.
It will mean that any one of them can be arrested and executed at will for any exotic reason, as decided by 'female brains' and 'military intelligence'.
(*) I'm sure Albert Einstein would have agreed ... somehow
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