UK Dual National Scientist Escapes Iranian Jail After Sentenced To 9 Years - Reports

UK Dual National Scientist Escapes Iranian Jail After Sentenced to 9 Years - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2021) Kameel Ahmady, a scientist with dual UK-Iranian citizenship, has managed to escape a prison in Iran while on bail after sentenced to nine years behind bars and a 600,000-euro fine ($720,000) for subversion, The Guardian reported on Wednesday.

Ahmady's social science research focused on the practice of female genital mutilation in Iran, child marriage, temporary marriage, homosexuality and other topics considered taboo in that country. He was sentenced last November and released on bail. His appeal plea was rejected in absentia on Monday.

"Once I had been sentenced I had a choice of whether I would stay and not see my family and four-year-old child until he was 14, or to risk fleeing," the scientist told The Guardian. "I smuggled myself out of Iran out of despair."

Ahmady used the same paths Iranians use to smuggle alcohol, car parts, cigarettes and other contraband from Iraq and Turkey in circumvention of US sanctions, according to the report.

These paths are located in the mountains, which currently are covered in thick snow. Additionally, the Iranian security enhanced border protection after the assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh last year, and it had reportedly happened that they simply shoot down perpetrators from afar.

"I am Kurdish by ethnicity and I know some of the routes, but it was very dangerous. I had to try several times," Ahmady said.

The scientist reportedly only grabbed his laptop and books when escaping. He said he was still unsure if the Iranian government had realized he fled the country.

Ahmady was first arrested in 2019. At the time, there was a major spat unfolding between Iran and the UK over the detention of an Iranian tanker, Grace 1, off Gibraltar by the UK marines. The scientist initially thought he was detained as a bargain chip, but he was not let go after the ship's release. Instead, he spent some 100 days in custody for interrogation in solitary confinement.