Professor Wall's Statement about CSUN graduate student Esha Momeni

In a statement Esha Momeni's academic adviser Professor Melissa Wall urged the Iranian government to allow Esha Momeni to come back to CSUN:

"It is December 8th, and we are still waiting after two long months, for Esha to return to the United States and her academic program. The last few weeks have been wrought with confusion. At first Esha was banned from leaving Iran. Then, Iranian officials said that she was free to come back to the United States but they wouldn't give her back her passport. Clearly, it appears she is not free to leave. This is a problem because it leaves her months behind in her academic work. Esha has not submitted any of the work required to earn her thesis, because her video was seized. She is now months behind in her academic work, and the deadline to file to graduate will soon pass. Her other professors and I are asking the Iranian government to lift her travel ban, give back her passport and allow her to return to California in time to enroll for Spring semester."


Professor Wall further expressed these concerns in a radio program on KPFK's indymedia. You can listen to this program here. Below is a quote from Esha's classmate Anasa Sinegal in this radio program:
She is still not able to leave the country - not only are we continually worried about her well-being, we are also worried about her standing in our program. Is she going to be able to come back here and finish her degree? . . . And we also just really want her to graduate with us, to stand on that stage. We've become a tight knit family. We're worried that's not going to happen. We want her back as soon as possible so that we can talk to her and see her again and we can all graduate come May 2009.

To help Esha:
Write a letter asking the Iranian government to drop all charges and allow Esha to return to California to complete her degree. Based on the recommendations of the Observatory for Human Rights Defenders, consider the following text:
Please guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Ms. Esha Momeni, and immediately drop all charges and allow Ms. Momeni to return to the US without conditions to complete her academic work. Her arrest was in connection with her peaceful activities in support of equal rights for women in Iran and in the context of her graduate research.
Send to:
Leader of the Islamic Republic, His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader, Shoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran, Faxes: + 98.21.649.5880 / 21.774.2228.

Also read:
http://melissawall.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/esha-still-unable-to-leave-iran/
http://melissawall.wordpress.com/2008/12/09/let-esha-come-home/