Iranian scientist in US jail contracts coronavirus after pleading for release
by Sam Levin from on (#52SP6)
Dr Sirous Asgari, in Ice detention despite having been exonerated in a sanctions trial, had warned of 'inhumane' conditions
An Iranian scientist who has been pleading for weeks to be released from a US immigration jail due to his fragile health has contracted Covid-19, according to his family and attorneys.
Dr Sirous Asgari, a materials science and engineering professor who spoke out in March about the unsanitary and "inhumane" conditions in detention, was placed in an isolation cell this week inside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) jail in Louisiana. His lawyers learned on Tuesday that his Covid-19 test was positive, and in a phone call with the Guardian, Asgari had a bad cough and said he had had a fever for days.
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