Dr. Arash Alaei
Dr. Arash Alaei
UPDATE: (29 June 2009) Dr. Arash Alaei has been released on parole for 10 days and is required to report to prison after that time.
(27 May 2009) Dr. Arash Alaei is the former director of the International Education and Research Cooperation of the Iranian National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. Since 1998 he and his brother, Dr. Kamiar Alaei, have been carrying out HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs, particularly focused on harm reduction for injecting drug users.
He and his brother have been held in Evin prison in Tehran since June 2008. They were indicted in December 2008 on charges of communicating with an “enemy government” according to their attorney, Masoud Shafie.
Dr. Arash Alaei has been detained far longer than Iranian penal code allows. Articles 30-34 of the Code of Penal Procedure of the Islamic Republic of Iran allow for detentions but require that the investigating judge issue such detention orders for one month at a time and for no longer than four months.
Over 3,100 people from more than 85 countries have signed an online petition demanding their release, which can be viewed at http://www.IranFreeTheDocs.org.
