Iran academics demand answers over environmentalist death

The family of Kavous Seyed Emami, 63, a renowned professor at Imam Sadegh University and founder of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, were told on Friday that he had killed himself in prison two weeks after his arrest.

A judiciary official claimed on Sunday that he had confessed to crimes related to an espionage investigation, and seven other members of his wildlife NGO are still behind bars.

"The news of the death of Dr Kavous Seyed Emami has astounded and shocked the scientific community and the environmental activists of the country," wrote a group of four academic societies in an open letter to the president.

"In addition to being a well-known professor, a distinguished scientist and war veteran... he was a noble and ethical human being," the letter said.

"The news and rumours related to his arrest and death are not believable."

The letter was published by four leading academic associations related to political science, sociology, peace studies and cultural studies, which include professors from Iran's top universities.

Addressing Rouhani, they wrote: "Our minimum expectation is that you take immediate and effective action to seriously investigate the case... and make the institutions involved in this painful loss accountable."

One of Rouhani's closest advisers, Hesameddin Ashena, tweeted later that the judiciary, which is dominated by conservatives and has clashed with his moderate government in the past, should be more closely supervised.

"Judges, prosecutors, officers, interrogators are neither infallible, nor faultless or free from prejudice," Ashena wrote.

"Just as it is necessary to supervise the executive branch, it is necessary to supervise their dealings with defendants.

"One Mortazavi was enough for the country, let's not have another one," he added, referring to notorious former Tehran prosecutor Said Mortazavi, who was convicted over the death of a protester in custody during mass demonstrations in 2009.

Asked about Emami's case on Monday, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejeie told the reformist ILNA news agency: "I have heard he committed suicide but I have so far no information on the details. This recent incident is under investigation."

Separately, the Environment Protection Organisation denied rumours that its deputy head Kaveh Madani had been arrested.

A reformist lawmaker, Mahmoud Sadeghi, had stated via Twitter on Sunday that the EPO had told him Madani was arrested over the weekend.

A senior official at the EPO, who did not wish to be named, told AFP on Monday that this was incorrect and that Madani was at work.

A tweet was published on Madani's personal Twitter account early Monday for the first time in three days.

"Hopeful for narrow-mindedness to get wiped out. Hopeful for peace of mind for environmental activists. Hopeful for the removal of concern of those awaiting the return of loved ones," it read.

According to Iran Wire, the Iranian Political Science Association said Seyed-Emami was "not only a unique scholar and a hard-working researcher in political science but a honorable and ethical man and, all in all, a unique personality".

Canada's foreign office said it was aware of the reports of Emami's death.

"Canadian consular officials in Ankara are working to gather additional information and are providing assistance to the family of the Canadian citizen," said spokeswoman Natasha Nystrom.

There is currently no Canadian embassy in the country and there are no official diplomatic relations between the two nations.