PHR staffer Olga Khazan has a letter to the editor published in today’s Washington Post which links the recent detainment of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi with the equally senseless jailing of the doctors Kamiar and Arash Alaei. Saberi, who was arrested in January on vague charges of spying, is yet another unfortunate casualty in Iran’s crackdown on Western collaboration.

From her letter:

In a similar case, the Iranian Revolutionary Court recently sentenced Kamiar and Arash Alaei, brothers who are world-renowned HIV/AIDS physicians, to three and six years in prison, respectively, for allegedly “communicating with enemy governments” because of their participation in global health conferences. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s regime has condemned countless Iranian journalists, activists and scientists on illegitimate charges without producing evidence to back them up. This crackdown on international exchange and academic freedom undermines the efforts of those who seek to shine a light on Iranian society and serve the Iranian people.

In closing his congratulatory letter to the newly elected President Obama, Mr. Ahmadinejad asked him “to use every chance to serve, to spread love and kindness, to eradicate oppression, [and] to do justice.”

Mr. Ahmadinejad should begin by spreading justice in his own country and releasing innocent citizens such as Ms. Saberi and the Alaeis. Whether reporting the news or treating devastating diseases, each deserves the opportunity to serve.

Iran’s crackdown on journalists, medics and human rights activists is an alarming trend that will only serve to stifle progress and cripple the work of Saberi, the Alaeis and others like them. PHR urges the government of Iran to release these and other innocent Iranian citizens so that they can continue to help and empower their countrymen.