Endangered Scholars Worldwide

Endangered Scholars Worldwide BELGIUM According to the Network for Education and Academic Rights (NEAR), m a ria n n e m a e c k e lb e rg h , a U.S. scholar based in the Netherlands, has accused Belgian police ofabusing her along with many other arrest­ ees at a “No Borders” protest camp in Brussels. Maeckelbergh, an assis­ tant professor ofcultural anthropology at the University ofLeiden, was reportedly arrested on October 1, 2010, while taking pictures of the arrest of activists at the protest camp. A statement by her publisher, Pluto Press, claims that “when Marianne began taking pictures, she was arrested. She was taken into police custody where she was violently dragged by her hair, chained to a radiator, hit, kicked, spat upon, and threatened with sexual assault by the police. She also witnessed the torture of another prisoner also chained to a radiator.” She has since been released, but has yet to have her property, including her camera with photos, returned by the police. Maeckelbergh is the author of The Will of the Many: How the Alterglobalisation Movement is Changing the Face ofDemocracy, and focuses her academic research on the anthropology of globalization, democracy, and social movements. She was due to observe decision-making structures within the No Borders camps on October 2-3, but was arrested before this took place. Appeals to: Monsiuer Yves Leterme Madame Annemie Turtelboom Prime Minister Minister ofthe Interior 16 Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 2 Rue de la Loi 1000 Brussels 1000 Brussels Belgium Belgium sophie.pieters@premier.fed.be min.annemie.turtelboom@ibz.fgov.be (secretary to the Prime Minister) Fax:02 504 85 00 - 02 504 85 80 Information current, to the best ofour knowledge, as ofJanuaiy 30, 2011. social research Vol 77 : No 4 : W inter 2010 v IRAN a h m a d g h a b e l, a prominent Iranian religious scholar, was arrested on September 8, 2010, and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, three years’ exile from his city of residence, and a three-year ban on speeches. This is the maximum sentence for the crime of acting against national security. After spending almost four months in prison, Gabel was released on a $50,000 bail on January 4, 2011; the remainder of his sentence was converted into a fine of $4,000. He had previously been arrested in December 2009 and held for five months without charge in Valcilabad prison. According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Ghabel was rearrested because, following his release, he gave reports and interviews regarding his detention and secret mass executions in Vakilabad prison. Gabel is currently awaiting the release of his appeal court’s ruling. We are sorry to announce that ja ’f a r kazem i, a scholar featured in our previous issue, was executed on January 24, 2011. The execu­ tion took place without notification of his family or lawyer, and came shortly after he refused to give a television interview forthe authorities. Kazemi was arrested in September 2009 and charged with Moharebeh (enmity against God) for his alleged contact with the banned organiza­ tion the People’s Mujahideen ofIran Scholars featured in previous issues who remain in prison in Iran include em ad e d d in b ag h i, a well-known Iranian scholar and human rights defender serving a total of seven years in prison on charges related to the formation of an organization to defend prisoners’rights and for recording an interview with a reformist cleric; m ajid ta v a k o li, b a h a re h h ed a y at, and m ila d a sa d i, distinguished student activists sentenced to eight-and-a-half, nine-and-a-half, and seven years, respec­ tively, for their involvement in 2009 anti-government protests; d r. m o sta fa a la v i, an Iranian doctor and researcher sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment in August 2008 for “plotting against the regime”; d rs. a r a s h and k a m ie r a la e i, two AIDS researchers who were sentenced to three and six years...