D.A. Drops Extortion Charges Against Former Post-Doc

Charges of extortion against a former post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies were dropped by the Middlesex County district attorney's office last Friday.

Jill Reilly, a spokesperson for the district attorney's office, said the charges against Kaveh L. Afrasiabi were dropped because key witness Shobhana Rana '89 was not able to confirm Afrasiabi's identity as the man she said sent hostile letters to her boss, Reza Alavi, a research associate at the center.

"Once she changed her mind, we could not [continue]," Really said. "We felt it in the best interest of justice not to go forward with the case."

The controversy began last fall when Rana said she received letters at the center threatening Alavi's life.

According to a police report, the extortionist pledged to kill Alavi if he or she was not given $500. After meeting at Au Bon Pain a number of times with Rana, the extortionist returned the money with a letter of apology.

The February 8 issue of The Crimson reported that Alavi originally suggested that Afrasiabi might be the extortionist after hearing Rana's description of the man she met at the cafe.

But Alavi said he is not positive that Afrasiabi was involved in the extortion. "I really can't say [whether he was guilty or not]," he said. "I didn't see him write those letters."

According to Afrasiabi, Roy P. Mottahedeh, Gurney professor of history and the former head of the center, has been trying to ruin his career.

"This whole thing was a large conspiracy," Afrasiabi said. "On the one hand, I'm happy I'm exonerated.... On the other hand, I'm unhappy that I had to go through this."

Afrasiabi said he plans to file a civil suit in Suffolk County Court next week against the University, Alavi, Mottahedeh, Rana and the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD).

Afrasiabi claims the HUPD reports had many factual errors. He also accuses the HUPD officers of making false statements.

"This is gross misconduct by the [HUPD] that deserves an internal investigation," Afrasiabi said.

Police Chief Francis D. "Bud" Reilly, however, contends that there was nothing wrong with the police investigation. "We felt that the Harvard University police did a very professional job in the investigation," he said.

Afrasiabi said he is convinced the faculty members at the center want to ruin him because of his criticism of them and his defense of Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses.

In all, the suit will contain eight or nine charges, including libel, defamation of character and illegal search, Afrasiabi said.

"It is not a research center--it is a totalitarian center, a chamber of horror," he said. "They're a bunch of criminals."