University of Melbourne lecturer Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert faces 10 years in Iranian jail
Australian diplomats are pleading for the release of University of Melbourne academic Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who has been sentenced to 10 years in jail in Iran on suspected spying charges.
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A Melbourne academic has been sentenced to 10 years in a notorious Iranian prison for suspected espionage charges.
Australian diplomats are pleading for the release of Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a University of Melbourne expert on Middle Eastern politics who was arrested almost a year ago on secret charges believed to be related to spying.
Her students and colleagues described her last night as “one of the loveliest people” who was always “supportive and encouraging”.
A fellow Middle East expert said: “It is appalling that she has been imprisoned. Yet another academic in the region being targeted”.
She is one of three Australians jailed in the Islamic republic’s Evin Prison, used by the regime to hold political prisoners including British-Iranian dual citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has also been locked up on spying charges.
Experts fear Iran has detained the foreigners to try to orchestrate a prisoner swap for an Iranian woman who was arrested in Australia in 2017 and then extradited to the US on charges of evading sanctions.
Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne refused to comment on Dr Moore-Gilbert’s case on Saturday after meeting with her Iranian counterpart earlier this month to lobby for the Australians to be freed.
She confirmed this week Australian authorities had “no reason to think that these arrests are connected to international concerns over Iran’s nuclear program, United Nations sanctions or sanctions enforcement, or maritime security and the safety of civilian shipping”.
Amnesty International’s Eilidh Macpherson said there were concerns the detained Australians “may have been subjected to serious human rights violations, including denial of access to a lawyer and even torture or other ill-treatment”.
Dr Moore-Gilbert’s identity was revealed by a London-based Persian language station on Saturday, prompting her family to release a statement thanking the government and the university for “their ongoing support at this distressing and sensitive time”.
“We have been and continue to be in close contact with the Australian Government,” the statement said.
“We believe that the best chance of securing Kylie’s safe return is through diplomatic channels.”
Dr Moore-Gilbert, a dual British-Australian citizen, graduated with honours from Britain’s University of Cambridge in 2013 and completed her doctorate at the University of Melbourne in 2017.
She is a lecturer and researcher at the university’s Asia Institute, focusing on Middle Eastern politics and issues including the 2011 Arab uprisings and authoritarian governance.
A member of several political science associations, her most recent project was: “Iran’s relationship with Bahrain’s Shi’aafter the Arab Uprisings.”
Perth travel bloggers Jolie King and Mark Firkin are the other two Australians locked up in Iran after they were reportedly arrested for flying a drone without a permit.
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband Richard Ratcliffe told the ABC this week that conditions inside the prison were horrific.
“I know that the girl is now in with Nazanin, (she) came through scared and disoriented and obviously had been quite intimidated by being interrogated for all that time in solitary,” he said.
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Senator Payne told parliament last week that embassy staff in Tehran had made “repeated representations to very senior Iranian officials” about the detained Australians.
“Since they were detained, the Australian government has been pressing the Iranian government for their release,” she said.
The University of Melbourne said it was in close contact with Dr Moore-Gilbert’s family and the federal government.
Australians are being warned to reconsider their need to travel in Iran as they face the risk of arbitrary detention by local authorities.
Originally published as University of Melbourne lecturer Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert faces 10 years in Iranian jail