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  • Endangered Scholars Worldwide
  • Ebby Sharifi

Social Research was founded by a group of scholars known as the University in Exile, refugees from Nazi Europe who found a home at the New School. In each issue we publish the names and details of scholars, researchers, and students who have been threatened or imprisoned, along with ways to offer them support. We see this effort as consistent not only with our own history as a journal but with the need to call attention to the increasing and often brutal attempts to silence our colleagues around the world.

If you are aware of a scholar or student whose case you believe we should investigate, please contact us at esw@newschool.edu.

The information in this report is current, to the best of our knowledge, as of June 2, 2015. Additional information and more recent information about many of these cases, as well as sample letters of protest, may be found on our website at http://www.newschool.edu/cps/endangered-scholars/. We would also like to announce that Endangered Scholars Worldwide now has a Facebook page. Please like us and follow our posts at https://www.facebook.com/endangeredscholars.

NEW AND CONTINUING CASES

BAHRAIN

Scholars and Researchers

Endangered Scholars Worldwide is gravely concerned about the decision issued on May 14, 2015, by the Bahraini court to deport Professor masaud mirza jaffar jahromi, who had his citizenship revoked on January 31, 2015, along with 70 other people. [End Page v] Professor Jahromi does not have a second nationality. The decision to revoke his passport in January 2015 was based on an order from the minister of the interior, and allegations of “damage to the interests of the country and loyalty to the king.” The court issued an order for his deportation and a fine of 100 dinars. Professor Jahromi holds a PhD in Telecommunication Networking from the University of Kent at Canterbury in the United Kingdom, and he was the Chairman of the Telecommunication Engineering Department at Ahlia University. In 2011, Jahromi was imprisoned for five months.

Previously featured scholars from Bahrain who remain in prison include prisoner of conscience mahdi ‘issa mahdi abu dheeb, former president of the Bahrain Teachers’ Association, sentenced to five years’ imprisonment on September 21, 2012, on charges of “inciting hatred against the regime” and “attempting to overthrow and change the regime by force,” and dr. abdul-jalil al-singace, head of the department of engineering at the University of Bahrain, sentenced to life in prison by the military National Safety Court on charges of “plotting to topple” the government in June 2011. As of this report, Professor Al-Singace’s family confirmed that he has been denied medical attention and family visits again. Endangered Scholars Worldwide emphasizes that denying prisoners’ medical care and treatment is considered a breach of international conventions and national laws, regardless of the crime.

Scholars at Risk has set up a petition letter in support of Dr. al-Singace. The petition letter and sample letters can be found at http://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/50943/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=13826&killorg=True.

Students

Previously featured students from Bahrain who remain in prison include ahmad jassan ali mshaima’, arrested on December 28, 2013, and charged on April 16, 2014, with “illegal gathering with an intent to commit crimes and disturb public security” following protests to mark the second anniversary of the uprising on February 14, 2013. ahmed al arab, 22, a nursing student from Bani Jamra, was arrested on [End Page vi] January 9, 2014, in Hamad Town and reportedly was severely tortured in extracting a confession. As of this report, his health condition remains critical. Also still imprisoned are ahmed aoun, arrested by authorities when he sought treatment at a hospital following an eye injury inflicted by police during protests on May 13, 2012, and six students, arrested on March 5, 2012, as part of a crackdown on student involvement in pro-democracy demonstrations: jawad al-mahary, shawqi radhi, jassim al-mukhodher, yousif ahmed, and jassim al hulaibi, the latter of whom remains in prison despite the fact that he has served his full sentence. According to the Bahrain Youth Center in...

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