Nobel laureates call for release of Iranian physicist Omid Kokabee

Eighteen Physics Nobel laureates have signed an open letter addressed to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, calling for the release of Omid Kokabee, a 32-year-old physicist who has spent the last three years and eight months in a Teheran prison.

The letter is a joint initiative by Amnesty International; the Committee of Concerned Scientists, and the American Physical Society's Committee on the International Freedom of Scientists.

Kokabee is a member of SPIE. The society has been involved in several efforts on his behalf since he was imprisoned, including a letter from optics organizations to Khamenei appealing for Kokabee's release.

One of the 18 Nobel Prize winners signing the current letter is SPIE Fellow John Mather.

More on the letter from Nature News Blog

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