Dear Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,

I write to add and express my grave concern for the well-being of Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali, an Iranian-Swedish scholar of disaster medicine wrongfully I believe sentenced to death. He is in dire need of medical care. I respectfully urge you to call on the appropriate authorities to secure Dr. Djalali’s immediate release on humanitarian grounds so he may receive the medical care he urgently needs and with mercy return him to his family. You are the only one that can find the small gate down the difficult narrow path that leads to life. Humbly I offer this in the spirit of a sign of merciful guidance, revealed by God.

Ahmadreza is a well-respected colleague in the field of health disaster management, as in the ongoing Covid pandemic and in Iran as well as devastating earthquakes, as in Bam. He was visiting Iran to participate in a series of workshops hosted by universities in Tehran and Shiraz when arrested by the authorities for “collaboration with hostile governments and acting against national security”. Dr. Djalali was convicted and sentenced to death on a charge of “corruption on earth” (ifsad fil-arz). On the contrary and with all due respect he is not an enemy of God on Earth but one who defends God’s humanity on our planet. I believe that there is no evidence for any of these allegations. The assertion of Dr. Djalali that his ties to the international academic community are the basis of prosecution is correct. I sincerely believe that the charges against the doctor are not sustainable. It seems though that the Supreme Court summarily affirmed Dr. Djalali’s sentence, without allowing submissions of appeal. Furthermore, when Dr. Djalali was scheduled to see a blood and cancer specialist at a hospital on the recommendation of his Prison doctor, the prison authorities prevented him from so going. Does he have leukemia? Has he been subject to torture and threatened with execution to gain a forced confession of guilt. I believe his execution may be carried out in secret. You hold the key to the doctor’s life on earth.

I urge you most respectfully as the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran to direct the relevant authorities in your great country to secure Dr. Djalali’s immediate release, and, pending such action, to ensure his total well-being at this time of his great fragility. In Islamic teaching, human rights are a fundamental principle and scholarship and scholars are respected. Please return him to scholarship so that his talents can further flourish. Your attention to this important matter is crucial. Each act of compassion or forgiveness adds brightness to humanity’s fading star.

Jeffrey Levett, Athens, Greece
International Gusi Peace Prize Laureate
Vice President, World Philosophical Forum

Summer of flooding, heat waves and Covid, 2021. Informational note

The World Philosophical Forum (WPF) was established in Athens by Igor Kondrashin a Russian philosopher in recognition of Greece as the universally recognized and accepted cradle of western culture and civilization where science, philosophy and democracy were born. Its purpose is to promote ancient classical Greek philosophy and represented by its motto and logo respectively, philosophical ideas educate, consolidate and help transform Humanity into an integrated Earth XXI Citizenship with, wisdom and morality to improve Humanity, bridged by a pensive Athena, goddess of wisdom and the Thinker, a statue of Rodin. Its aim is to improve life globally, through practical philosophy by reinvigorating the concept of global citizenship, promoting civil lifelong education for all and reducing ignorance and corruption as well as contributing to a successful intercultural and interfaith dialogue. Two centuries on from Goethe’s attempt to broaden the horizon of those fearful of the Islamic world, WPF seeks to advance this discourse and promote a deeper, more meaningful understanding of the Middle East, North Africa and the wider Islamic world. In parallel, it works to make planet Earth a more peaceful habitat by slowing down the ongoing onslaught to the environment. WPF believes that government and the international community as well as all high profile citizens can do better to alleviate all present dangers and says doing nothing in the shadow of a nuclear nightmare, is not an option.

Notes

Matthew 7:14.
Surah 6 Ai An ‘aam 157.
Difficult is the way and sharp is the razor's edge, Katha Upanishad.
Scholars at Risk Network (SAR): International community must save Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali before it’s too late, Posted July 21, 2021.
Jeffrey Levett, Barbara’s Persian poets Goethe and the gingko leaf, 17 July 2020.
Jeffrey Levett, King’s Bay Ploughshares 7, Return them to sunshine! 30 June 2020.
Jeffrey Levett, An appeal to Mr. Vladimir Putin: on behalf of Alexei Navalny, 19 February 2021.
Dr. Dato Halo-N, Al Fathun Nawa. 2016.