Omid Kokabee (
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
: امید کوکبی; born 1982) is an Iranian experimental laser physicist at the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
who was arrested in Iran after returning from the United States to visit his family on January 30, 2011.
He was initially charged with "gathering and colluding against national security" but later, after being acquitted from the primary charges, he was put on trial for “communicating with a hostile government (USA)” and “illegitimate/illegal earnings”.
Even though he repeatedly denied all charges against himself, he was finally sentenced to ten years in prison.
In September 2013, the
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...
announced Kokabee as a co-recipient of its 2014
Andrei Sakharov Prize
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, commonly known as the Sakharov Prize, is an honorary award for individuals or groups who have dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and freedom of thought. Named after Russian scientis ...
for "his courage in refusing to use his physics knowledge to work on projects that he deemed harmful to humanity in the face of extreme physical and psychological pressure".
In November 2013,
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
released a public statement declaring Kokabee a "
prisoner of conscience, held solely for his refusal to work on military projects in Iran and as a result of spurious charges related to his legitimate scholarly ties with academic institutions outside of Iran." In that statement Amnesty asked for "his immediate and unconditional release".
In October 2014, the
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...
awarded Kokabee its 2014 Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award "for his courageous stand and willingness to endure imprisonment rather than violate his moral stance that his scientific expertise not be used for destructive purposes and for his efforts to provide hope and education to fellow prisoners".
While in prison he translated "Human Rights Atlas" by Andrew Fagan to
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
. The Persian translation was published as a book with the same title by Iranian publisher Armanshahr in April 2015 before Omid's release and was distributed and made available to public in Iran.
In August 2016 after five years of prison he was released on parole.
Life and education
Kokabee is from Iran's mostly
Sunni Muslim
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagree ...
Turkmen ethnic group.
He was ranked 29th in the Iranian university entrance exam, which is held annually with more than one million participants. He entered
Sharif University of Technology
Sharif University of Technology (SUT; fa, دانشگاه صنعتی شریف) is a public research university in Tehran, Iran. It is widely considered as the nation's most prestigious and leading institution for science, technology, engineering, ...
in 2000 and completed a double major undergraduate program in Applied Physics and Mechanical Engineering. In 2007, he went to Spain to obtain his master's degree in
Photonics
Photonics is a branch of optics that involves the application of generation, detection, and manipulation of light in form of photons through emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching, amplification, and sensing. Though ...
at
Polytechnic University of Catalonia
The Technical University of Catalonia ( ca, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, , es, link=no, Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña; UPC), currently referred to as BarcelonaTech, is the largest engineering university in Catalonia, Spai ...
at the Institute of Photonic Sciences,
ICFO
ICFO – The Institute of Photonic Sciences (Catalan:Institut de Ciències Fotòniques) (Spanish: Instituto de Ciencias Fotónicas) is a research center devoted to the science and technology of light. Located in Castelldefels (Barcelona, Spain), ...
, in Barcelona. Omid started his PhD studies at the University of Texas at Austin in 2010. He has published more than twenty collaborative papers including seven journal publications, among which lies his publications in ''
Optics Letters
''Optics Letters'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by The Optical Society (formerly known as Optical Society of America). It was established in July 1977. The editor-in-chief is Miguel Alonso (University of Rochester). The ...
''.
Arrest and imprisonment
During winter break in 2011, Kokabee traveled to Iran to visit with his family. He was arrested at
Imam Khomeini International Airport
Imam Khomeini International Airport is the primary international airport of Tehran, the capital city of Iran, located southwest of Tehran, near the localities of Robat Karim and Eslamshahr and spread over an area of of land. Along with Mehr ...
on his return trip to United States in February 2011,
[ and was subjected to solitary confinement for 36 days after his arrest.] In an open letter, Kokabee claimed that the authorities were trying to obtain his collaboration for the Iranian nuclear program
The nuclear program of Iran is an ongoing scientific effort by Iran to research nuclear technology that can be used to make nuclear weapons. Iran has several research sites, two uranium mines, a Nuclear reactor technology, research reactor, an ...
by threatening him and his family.
After 15 months of detention without trial and postponement of two trials in July and October 2011, Kokabee went on trial in Tehran on May 13, 2012. According to his lawyer, Saeed Khalili, Kokabee was charged with having relations with a hostile country and receiving illegitimate funds. Kokabee attended trial before judge Abolqasem Salavati with a group of 10 to 15 people in the same session, under the collective charge of collaborating with Israeli authorities. While other prisoners declared themselves guilty in a TV broadcast, Kokabee consistently denied all charges and did not speak in court.[ He was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment. The sentence was confirmed in an appeal trial on August 19, 2012.
Several physics associations, including the ]American Physical Society
The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...
, the International Optics Society SPIE
SPIE (formerly the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers, later the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers) is an international not-for-profit professional society for optics and photonics technology, founded in 1955. It ...
, the Optical Society of America
Optica (formerly known as The Optical Society (OSA) and before that as the Optical Society of America) is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals and organizes conference ...
, and the European Optical Society The European Optical Society (EOS), founded in 1991, is a European organisation for the development of the science of optics. Membership is open to national optical societies, individuals, companies, organisations, educational institutions, and lear ...
, have lodged protests against his imprisonment. The open letters to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنهای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia ''marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president o ...
, note that Kokabee was not politically active and was not associated with any political movement in Iran. However, he is an expert in laser technology, and as indicated in a ''Nature'' news article, this expertise may have led to an attempt to intimidate him to work for the Iranian nuclear program, in the area of laser isotope separation.
Since 2007, a number of U.S.-Iranian dual nationals or Americans of Iranian ancestry have faced arrest, imprisonment or criminal charges when visiting Iran (examples being Radio Farda
Radio Farda ( fa, راديو فردا, lit=Radio Tomorrow, ''Radio Farda'') is the Iranian branch of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) external broadcast service for providing "factual, objective and profession ...
correspondent Parnaz Azima, Roxana Saberi
Roxana Saberi (born April 26, 1977) is an American CBS News correspondent and former Miss North Dakota pageant winner. In 2009, she was held prisoner in Iran's Evin Prison for 101 days under accusations of espionage. She subsequently wrote a b ...
, Ali Shakeri Ali Shakeri ( fa, علی شاکری) is an Iranian-American businessman and activist. He graduated from the University of Texas with a business administration degree. He serves on the Community Advisory Board of the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding ...
, Esha Momeni, Haleh Esfandiari
Haleh Esfandiari ( fa, هاله اسفندیاری) (born March 3, 1940) is an Iranian-American academic and former Director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. Her areas of expert ...
, and Kian Tajbakhsh).
Omid said:
Nature received copies of the letters from Kokabee’s contacts, who asked to remain anonymous because of fear of retribution.
Omid and another inmate, Mehdi Khodaei, translated the book, The Atlas of Human Rights by Andrew Fagan in Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
and made it available for public on the internet for download in 2015.
On November 24, 2015 Omid was transferred to Taleghani Hospital, in Tehran, suffering from kidney stones. He was released on parole on 29 August 2016. This does not amount to a full release since he can still be brought back to prison for the remaining three years of his sentence should the judiciary decide to revoke his parole. However, he is free to leave Iran while on parole.
Kokabee was charged with “communicating with a hostile government,” and receiving “illegitimate funds.” In an open letter from Evin prison, Kokabee wrote that his imprisonment was because of "his refusal to heed pressure by Iranian intelligence agents to collaborate on a military research project."
Activism and recognition
In July 2013, a meeting took place in Barcelona (where Kokabee obtained his master's degree) entitled "Knowledge in jail: Why are there hundreds of scientists in the prisons of the world?" The discussion was organized by the Science and Technology section of the Ateneu Barcelonès. Kokabee's case received special attention. SPIE Past President María Yzuel of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona decried situations wherein scientists and researchers are controlled in their academic years, recalling memories of colleagues who were monitored or controlled by the Franco government.
On September 23, 2013, the American Physical Society
The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...
, the principal professional society of United States physicists, announced that Kokabee has been selected as a co-recipient of its 2014 Andrei Sakharov Prize, which recognizes outstanding leadership of scientists upholding human rights. He was cited for "his courage in refusing to use his physics knowledge to work on projects that he deemed harmful to humanity in the face of extreme physical and psychological pressure".
On November 16, 2013, Amnesty International sponsored an event in Washington, DC entitled "Iran: Silencing Scientists and Squelching Scholarship." The panel discussion was billed as a dialogue on how to address the issue of repression of academic freedom in Iran; featuring the case of Omid Kokabee. On November 19, 2013, Amnesty International released a public statement declaring Kokabee a "prisoner of conscience, held solely for his refusal to work on military projects in Iran and as a result of spurious charges related to his legitimate scholarly ties with academic institutions outside of Iran." With that statement, Amnesty launched a campaign calling for his immediate and unconditional release.
On October 27, 2014, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest general science association in the world, selected Kokabee as the recipient of the 2014 Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award "for his courageous stand and willingness to endure imprisonment rather than violate his moral stance that his scientific expertise not be used for destructive purposes and for his efforts to provide hope and education to fellow prisoners".
See also
* Joseph Rotblat
Sir Joseph Rotblat (4 November 1908 – 31 August 2005) was a Polish and British physicist. During World War II he worked on Tube Alloys and the Manhattan Project, but left the Los Alamos Laboratory on grounds of conscience after it became ...
* Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov ( rus, Андрей Дмитриевич Сахаров, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ˈdmʲitrʲɪjevʲɪtɕ ˈsaxərəf; 21 May 192114 December 1989) was a Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident, nobel laureate and activist for nu ...
* Eugene Chudnovsky
References
External links
freeomid.org
A youtube video of Omid's situation
interviewing his professors.
Kokabee's most recent publication
in Optic Letters.
* One international organization
International Commission for Optics (ICO) signed with OSA, SPIE and EOS the petition letter on August 2011
Atlas of Human Rights translated into Persian by Omid Kokabee
;Open letters by Omid Kokabee
* http://www.kaleme.com/1390/10/20/klm-86089/
* http://www.kaleme.com/1390/04/23/klm-65334/
* http://freeomid.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Letters-from-prison.pdf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kokabee, Omid
1982 births
Living people
Iranian prisoners and detainees
Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Iran
People from Gonbad-e Qabus
Iranian Turkmen people