Family of academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert jailed in Iran denies reports of torture, suicide attempts

The British-Australian lecturer in Islamic studies is serving a 10-year sentence for espionage. She has denied accusations of spying

‘We do not accept the charges upon which Dr Moore-Gilbert was convicted and continue all efforts to have her returned,’ Australian government says

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Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who specialises in Middle Eastern politics with a focus on Gulf states, has been held for a ‘number of months’ in Iran. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:34pm, 17 May 2020Updated: 8:33pm, 17 May 2020

Jailed British-Australian Kylie Moore-Gilbert is in good health “considering her situation” in an Iranian prison, her family said in a statement on Sunday denying claims she had attempted suicide.

Human rights activists in Iran claimed earlier this month that the academic, who is serving a 10-year sentence for espionage, had attempted suicide multiple times and was upset with the Australian government’s response to her detention.

In a statement released by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), her family said they had spoken “a number of times” in recent weeks.

“She has strongly denied reports that she has attempted suicide or that she is being tortured,” the family said. “She seems to be in good health considering her situation.”

The arrest of Moore-Gilbert, a lecturer in Islamic studies at the University of Melbourne, was confirmed in September 2019 but her family said at the time she had been detained for months before that. She denies accusations she was a spy.

In letters smuggled out of the prison and published in British media in January, Moore-Gilbert wrote she had endured 10 months in solitary confinement, which had “gravely damaged” her health.

“In the past month I have been to the special care at Baghiatallah Hospital twice and the prison infirmary six times,” she wrote, according to extracts in the Times. “I think I am in the midst of a serious psychological problem.”