Australian academic Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert loses appeal and will stay in Iran prison
Melbourne academic Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who is jailed in Iran’s notorious Evin prison, reportedly began a hunger strike on Christmas Eve after enduring “psychological torture”.
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Tehran will not “give in to the political and smear campaigns” over the jailing of British-Australian academic Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, Iran’s foreign ministry says.
Dr Moore-Gilbert, a Cambridge-educated academic who was most recently a lecturer in Islamic Studies at Melbourne University, has been in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison for more than a year, having reportedly been given a 10-year sentence.
It was reported Dr Moore-Gilbert and another jailed academic, French-Iranian Dr Fariba Adelkhah, began a hunger strike on Christmas Eve. In an open letter published by supporters the two women said: “We will strike on behalf of all academics and researchers across Iran and the Middle East, who like us have been unjustly imprisoned on trumped up charges and simply doing their job as researchers
“We have been subjected to psychological torture and numerous violations of our basic human rights.”
When asked by reporters if he was concerned for Ms Moore-Gilbert’s welfare, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was, adding: “As I am for any Australian who finds themselves in these types of situations.” But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi said Ms Moore- Gilbert, who holds dual British and Australian citizenship, is being afforded her legal rights.
He said: “She has been arrested on a charge of violating Iran’s national security, and the competent court has also issued the appropriate ruling by observing all relevant laws.
“Experience has shown that the Islamic Republic of Iran would not give in to the political and smear campaigns, and this Australian citizen is serving her sentence while enjoying all legal rights, like any other convict with a judicial verdict.” The University of Melbourne’s website lists Dr Moore-Gilbert as specialising in Middle Eastern politics, with a particular focus on the Arab Gulf states. It says she’s had work published on the 2011 Arab uprisings, authoritarian governance and the role of new media technologies in political activism.
Last week Dr Moore-Gilbert was crushed when she lost an appeal against her 10-year sentence.
It meant she would spend her second Christmas behind bars in solitary confinement.
She remains in the Tehran jail where Iran’s feared Revolutionary Guard keeps its political prisoners.
A source said that Dr Moore-Gilbert was getting “desperate”.
She managed to get a message out from the jail, telling the source: “Make sure this does not go unnoticed.”
Dr Moore-Gilbert was arrested in October 2018, charged with spying and sentenced to 10 years’ jail.
It is understood that Dr Moore-Gilbert was invited to speak at a conference at the University of Qom, south of Tehran, before she was picked up.
Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s family have remained in close contact with the Australian government.
In September, the family thanked the government and the University of Melbourne for their support “at this distressing and sensitive time.”
Australian video bloggers Jolie King and Mark Firkin, who were arrested in July for flying a drone in Iran, were released in October.
The decision against Dr Moore-Gilbert’s appeal was handed down in recent weeks and she remains kept in solitary confinement in unit 2a in a 3m by 2m cell.
Prisoners in solitary confinement are only given three blankets, one to use as a mattress, one for a pillow and one to keep them warm.
There is no natural light and sometimes lights are kept on all day.
In other cases, the guards have cut off other prisoners’ access to their loved ones and told them that they had been abandoned in an effort to break their spirit.
Iran has been on a campaign of taking prisoners that can be used as bargaining chips in negotiations, as United States’ sanctions bite their economy.
Dr Moore-Gilbert, a dual UK national, went to high school at All Saints College in Bathurst, New South Wales, where she was dux.
She also completed a PhD at the University of Melbourne and attended the prestigious Cambridge University in the UK and studied at Wolfson College.
The college’s website has comments from Dr Moore-Gilbert endorsing the course in the UK.
“If you are considering this trip – either with a focus on the Middle East or the Far East – I would really encourage you to give it a go, and as a mature undergraduate there really is nowhere quite like Wolfson,” she wrote.
Her University of Melbourne profile is still online, which describes her as a lecturer in Islamic Studies.
The University of Melbourne repeated a statement they made when news of Dr Moore-Gilbert’s arrest broke in September when asked for comment this week.
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“The University of Melbourne has been and will continue to be in close contact with the Australian Government and Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s family.
“We believe that the best chance of securing Kylie’s safe return is through diplomatic channels.
This is a sensitive matter and the University will not be providing further comment.”
It is unclear if Australian authorities have been able to access Dr Moore-Gilbert’s medical records to independently review them.
DFAT would not comment on the case.
In September, Foreign Minister Marise Payne told parliament repeated representations had been made to senior Iranian officials in Tehran.
Originally published as Australian academic Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert loses appeal and will stay in Iran prison