One of the oldest inmates inside Iran’s notorious Evin jail has died after authorities ignored medical advice during months of declining health.
Shokrollah Jebeli, 83, an Australian-Iranian citizen, had been held since January 2020 over a financial dispute said to amount to less than $20,000.
The campaign to free Jebeli, run by his son, announced his death on Sunday. “I was just told my father died today,” he wrote on Twitter. “I couldn’t save him.”
Jebeli was diagnosed with high blood pressure, sciatica and had suffered a series of strokes. On one occasion, he was returned to jail after hospital treatment against medical advice on the same day he had a stroke, said human rights group Amnesty International.
The group said requests from prison staff for his release on health grounds were snubbed by prosecutors who would release him only on payment of $290,000.
News of his death came after two British dual citizens, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori, were released last week after the payment by the UK government of nearly £400 million ($523m) to the regime to settle a decades-old arms deal debt.
It was not known how Jebeli died but this month he was found unconscious and incontinent. He had regained consciousness and was moved to the prison infirmary at the weekend as his condition deteriorated, his family said.
He had been held in an overcrowded and insect-infested cell with about 19 inmates and had to sleep on a mattress on the floor. His failing health meant that he had relied on other prisoners to help him perform basic daily tasks, Amnesty said.
The UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights raised his case with the Iranian authorities in May last year. UN officials demanded answers about Jebeli being denied access to medicine, his detention in unsuitable conditions and being kept in the dark about the results of medical tests.
He had been facing two separate cases related to the same financial dispute. He had been sentenced to four years and six months for one, while the other was continuing.
The dispute was reportedly connected to a land sale involving a man who once claimed to be from the Ministry of Intelligence, prompting concerns that the legal pursuit of Jebeli was politically motivated. He had denied any wrongdoing.
In a phone call from prison, Jebeli had told Australian newspapers last year that the man was responsible for his detention. “He punished me, this person,” he said. “That person … is a bad person. I am innocent.”
Jebeli was not allowed to choose his own lawyer for the case and the authorities refused to examine evidence put forward by the businessman that could have cleared him, Amnesty said. The family last year described the case as a “mystery” to them.
They said Jebeli wanted to be buried near his family in Australia but they faced a bill of at least $7,500 to repatriate his body.
Mr Jebeli, who first moved to Australia from Iran in 1976 before returning three decades later, was one of a number of prisoners with links to Australia to have been detained.
The Australian-British academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert was detained for more than two years after she was accused of spying. She was released in November 2020 as part of a complicated prisoner swap arrangement.
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
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Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
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Where to apply
Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.
The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020.
Eyasses squad
Charlie Preston (captain) – goal shooter/ goalkeeper (Dubai College)
Arushi Holt (vice-captain) – wing defence / centre (Jumeriah English Speaking School)
Olivia Petricola (vice-captain) – centre / wing attack (Dubai English Speaking College)
Isabel Affley – goalkeeper / goal defence (Dubai English Speaking College)
Jemma Eley – goal attack / wing attack (Dubai College)
Alana Farrell-Morton – centre / wing / defence / wing attack (Nord Anglia International School)
Molly Fuller – goal attack / wing attack (Dubai College)
Caitlin Gowdy – goal defence / wing defence (Dubai English Speaking College)
Noorulain Hussain – goal defence / wing defence (Dubai College)
Zahra Hussain-Gillani – goal defence / goalkeeper (British School Al Khubairat)
Claire Janssen – goal shooter / goal attack (Jumeriah English Speaking School)
Eliza Petricola – wing attack / centre (Dubai English Speaking College)
MATCH INFO
Chelsea 3 (Abraham 11', 17', 74')
Luton Town 1 (Clark 30')
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List of alleged parties
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- Dec 13 2020: Mr Johnson and his then-fiancee Carrie Symonds throw a flat party
- Dec 14 2020: Shaun Bailey holds staff party at Conservative Party headquarters
- Dec 15 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
- Dec 18 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
more from Janine di Giovanni
Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
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He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
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