Mohammad Maleki
{{Short description|Iranian academic (1933–2020)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mohammad Maleki
| native_name = {{nobold|محمد ملکی}}
| native_name_lang = fa
| image = Mohammad Maleki 2019-11-01 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Maleki in 2019
| birth_date = {{birth date|1933|7|11|df=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|2020|12|1|1933|7|11|df=y}}
| death_place = Tehran, Iran
| occupation = {{hlist|Professor|writer|human rights activist}}
| known_for = Chancellor of the University of Tehran (1979)
| alma_mater = University of Tehran
| spouse = {{marriage|Ghodsi Mirmoez|1965|2020|reason=died}}[https://hambastegimeli.com/%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86/81000-%D8%AF%D8%B1%DA%AF%D8%B0%D8%B4%D8%AA-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%85-%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%B3%DB%8C-%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%B2-%D9%87%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%B1-%D8%AF%DA%A9%D8%AA%D8%B1-%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF-%D9%85%D9%84%DA%A9%DB%8C درگذشت خانم قدسی میرمعز، همسر دکتر محمد ملکی]
| children = 1
| party = {{ubl
| Council of Nationalist-Religious Activists
}}
| relatives =
| website =
}}
Mohammad Maleki ({{langx|fa|محمد ملکی}}; 11 July 1933 – 1 December 2020) was an Iranian academic and pro-democracy nationalist-religious{{cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/iran_religious_activists/24335466.html|title=Religious Activists Barred From Leaving Iran|date=21 September 2011|work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|accessdate=10 March 2017}} activist who served as president of the University of Tehran.
Life and career
Maleki was a founder of Legam, the Campaign for Step by Step Abolition of the Death Penalty. He appealed for the judiciary to uphold the constitutional rights of non-Muslims, and called for investigation into the persecution of members of the Baháʼí Faith.{{cite book|last1=Parsa|first1=Misagh|title=Democracy in Iran|date=November 7, 2016|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674974296|page=21|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cMVQDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA21|accessdate=4 July 2017}}
Due to his activism, he was arrested numerous times by Iranian police. On August 22, 2009, he was arrested again in the context of the unrest after 2009 presidential election.{{Cite web|title=gooya news :: politics : دکتر محمد ملکی بازداشت شد|url=https://news.gooya.com/politics/archives/2009/08/092555.php|access-date=2020-12-02|website=news.gooya.com}} In early March 2010 he was released on bail after spending about three months in solitary confinement. He was charged with Moharebeh for alleged "contact with unspecified foreign groups and working to undermine the Islamic system"[http://www.rferl.org/content/Former_Tehran_University_Chancellor_Charged_With_Waging_A_War_Against_God/1976835.html Former Tehran University Chancellor Charged With 'Waging A War Against God'] RFERL, 7 March 2010[https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i5rS-3ByuYDZzxzRnVw0ynTqXfSAD9EBB2P00 Iran calls political opponents enemies of Islam]{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} By BRIAN MURPHY (AP) 9 March 2010 and “insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Khomeini and Ayatollah Khamenei.” Maleki was hospitalised several times for a heart attack and other physical problems including prostate cancer during his detention. He was also reportedly denied access to an adequate treatment, and later (September 2011), wrote a brief report to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Iran on the tortures he had suffered during his prison terms for which he was subsequently interrogated and received a notice banning him from travelling abroad.
Maleki at first refused to attend the Islamic Revolutionary Court, and at the second hearing July 30, 2011 refused to defend himself and said he would not appeal the sentence, because he considered the court of first instance to be illegal. He was finally sentenced on the charge of “propaganda against the system.”[http://persian2english.com/?p=23490 URGENT APPEAL: Dr. Mohammad Maleki Summoned to Serve Prison Sentence] persian2english.com| January 25, 2012 He was released but as of 25 January 2012 was summoned to serve a one-year prison term.
In 2013 Maleki publicly apologized for his part in turning away students from Iranian universities leaving them the only option of the Baháʼí Institute for Higher Education, a home based university-class system.{{cite web| last =compiled/translated by Sen McGlinn from Persian sources | first = | title =Former Rector of Tehran University apologizes | date =September 25, 2013 | url =http://sensday.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/former-rector-of-tehran-university-apologises/ | accessdate =Sep 25, 2013 }} The meeting was filmed by film director Mohammad Nourizad and Maleki posted the event to his Facebook page.{{cite web| title =Former Rector of Tehran University apologises | work = Facebook account| publisher =Mohammad Maleki | date = Sep 23, 2013 | url =https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=173326172858756&set=a.147452198779487.1073741828.100005441230571 | accessdate = Sep 25, 2013 }}
Mohammad Maleki had repeatedly attempted to obtain permission to leave the country to see his family and to seek medical treatment, but his requests for a passport were refused. In April 2015, he again wrote an open letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, in which he stated: “I have not committed theft, fraud or any other criminal offence. I have been deprived of my civil rights solely for my [political] beliefs … and human rights activities... I wish to visit my son after seven years... This is the obvious right and the deep wish of every father.”{{cite web|title=URGENT ACTION SICK ELDERLY IRANIAN ACTIVIST ON TRAVEL BAN|url=https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1363672017ENGLISH.pdf|website=Amnesty International|date=2 June 2017}} Amnesty International considers the travel ban against Mohammad Maleki to be a retaliatory violation of human rights guaranteed under Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party. Amnesty appealed that Mohammad Maleki be allowed to leave Iran, to visit family members who live in Canada and the Netherlands, and to seek medical treatment.{{cite web|title=on travel ban: Dr Mohammad Maleki|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/6367/2017/en/|website=Amnesty International|date=2 June 2017}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{List of political prisoners of Iran}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maleki, Mohammad}}
Category:Academic staff of the University of Tehran
Category:Iranian democracy activists
Category:Academic staff of the Islamic Azad University
Category:Iranian religious-nationalists
Category:Victims of human rights abuses
Category:Members of the Iranian Committee for the Defense of Freedom and Human Rights