The Université libre de Bruxelles has a long tradition of hosting threatened scholars from all over the world. In this conversation with SAR Executive Director Rob Quinn, Anne Weyembergh, Professor of Law and Vice Rector for External Relations and Cooperation, describes the motivations for and impact of hosting scholars, such as keeping scholarship "free from repression, persecution," given that "in many contexts, researchers are threatened because they produce or defend truths." Professor Weyembergh also draws on her academic background to explore how truth-seeking is vital in criminal law and considers the role of universities in cultivating an "epistemic humility" in which professors and researchers can revise their views when new evidence emerges. "Truth is not imposed, but is pursued through critical reasoning, open debate, and scientific rigor. That is the basic principle of ULB." This year, SAR celebrates 25 years of a global academic freedom movement strong enough to meet the challenges ahead. Join us: www.scholarsatrisk.org/join-the-movement

Dr. Tyrell Haberkorn and Dr. Paul Chambers join Free to Think to discuss the use of Thailand's lèse-majesté law to intimidate and silence scholars. After three decades living and working in Thailand, Professor Paul Chambers was arrested in April 2025 and charged under Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code with lèse-majesté, or insulting the monarchy. He believes he was targeted in retaliation for his research on the military and democracy. After an international campaign on his behalf, the charges against him were dropped, but he lost his university position, and his visa was revoked. He is currently in the United States, where he notes: "If I am outside of Thailand, I can go on with my work and probably do a better job of describing the problems of the Thai military."  Professor Tyrell Haberkorn is an expert on state violence in Thailand. She highlights the chilling effect of Paul's arrest on scholars and the wider society, as well as the history of lèse-majesté law in Thailand. "People were jailed for performing plays, for having conversations in taxis, for bathroom graffiti, for social media posts."  

Free to Think speaks with Omar Gómez Trejo, a lawyer and human rights advocate from Mexico. Omar gained prominence as the special prosecutor leading the investigation into the disappearance of 43 student teachers from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College in the city of Iguala, Mexico.  From 2019-2022, Omar's team secured indictments for over 100 federal, state, and local authorities for their involvement in the disappearances or subsequent cover-ups, including military officials and organized crime members. His team also worked closely with the families of victims and their legal representatives in their search for truth and justice. Facing significant political interference in the case, Omar resigned as special prosecutor in 2022. Through SAR's Practitioners at Risk program, Omar is a visiting scholar at the Human Rights Center at the University of California at Berkeley's School of Law. There, he continues to work on the Ayotzinapa case through his research and teaching, while drawing on his experience with the case to work on broader issues of impunity for human rights violations in Mexico and beyond.  See SAR's monitoring of the 2014 Ayotzinapa case: https://ow.ly/blY950VwQTm Listen to "After Ayotzinapa" on Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting: https://revealnews.org/article/after-ayotzinapa/

As the first in her family to attend university, Dr. Encieh Erfani was drawn to the stars. Her interest led her to physics and cosmology, examining the origin of the universe – a rare subject in Iran at the time.  Dr. Erfani was traveling outside of Iran in September 2022 when the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement began, sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini. In solidarity, Dr. Erfani stepped down from her academic position in Iran. Her resignation email quickly went viral on social media and she has not been able to return since, knowing she would risk imprisonment by Iranian authorities. "As a scientist, you have never trained to be a social activist or political activist, but in some countries, your actions can be considered a political act," she says. "A simple resignation can lead to exile."' In response, Dr. Erfani co-founded the International Community of Iranian Academics (ICOIA), a group providing community and support to academics of Iranian heritage around the world. Now at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, she continues her work as a researcher and staunch advocate for displaced academics worldwide.  Learn more about Dr. Erfani's work: https://sites.google.com/view/eerfani/home Learn more about the International Community of Iranian Academics (ICOIA): https://icoia.org/ This episode is brought to you in partnership with the Fragile Freedom podcast, a joint-initiative of the German science communications agency con gressa and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of Science Year 2024 Freedom. See the Fragile Freedom podcast here: https://fragile-freedom.podigee.io/

Omar Mohammed first gained international prominence in 2014 as the anonymous blogger "Mosul Eye", risking his life to document daily existence in the occupied city of Mosul, Iraq. His blog was considered one of the few reliable, real-time sources of information on life under the Islamic State (aka ISIS or Daesh in Arabic), and proved to be a critical source of information for journalists, policy-makers, and scholars. Mosul was liberated from ISIS in 2017 but only after an extended, months-long battle that left much of the city badly damaged. Omar, now based in France, remains deeply connected to Mosul, having launched numerous social initiatives to rebuild the city and document the stories of its inhabitants. "The moment you are labeled as a scholar, and the moment you are free, then you have to give back to the society," he says. "It's a must."  

Free to Think speaks with Dr. Khoo Ying Hooi, an Associate Professor at the University of Malaya and 2022-23 Mellon/SAR Academic Freedom Fellow, on academic freedom and coalition building in Southeast Asia.  Ying Hooi discusses her research and shares how building an academic freedom coalition across Southeast Asia – a region that spans 11 countries and represents a range of universities – can help academics and higher education institutions support one another. She emphasizes that academic freedom matters for all, and identifies the need for increased dialogue on related issues, particularly in states most at risk of repression. "It is really important that we embrace and understand why academic freedom is important for the future of countries," she says. "Without being able to talk freely and write freely and express ourselves freely and learn freely, I think there will be a major obstacle for us to advance as a country."

Free to Think speaks with three university students who express the profound impact of joining the SAR student advocacy community. "Being involved in the amplification of the voice of somebody who's marginalized doesn't just affect the person who's marginalized," says Samkele Shange, a SAR Student Advocacy Seminar participant at the University of South Eastern Norway. "It also affects you, the person who lifts your voice." Samkele Shange describes how she and her peers advocated on behalf of GN Saibaba – an activist and formerly wrongfully imprisoned scholar of English literature at Delhi University. Laia Simó Garriga and Truc Hanh Vu share how interviewing scholars from Ethiopia through their SAR Legal Clinic, and compiling a UPR report for the United Nations Human Rights Council, shaped their understanding of academic freedom – and the power of their voices.  This episode is guest hosted by Clare Robinson, Advocacy Director at Scholars at Risk.  

Free to Think speaks with academic, policy analyst and human rights activist Mubashar Hasan. He describes how in Bangladesh certain research topics are off-limits, particularly those that threaten the power of the ruling class, and speaks from first-hand experience — Hasan survived 44 days of "enforced disappearance" in Bangladesh in 2017. Now based in Sydney, Australia, Hasan describes the 'mental prison' Bangladeshi colleagues navigate when trying to balance doing their work with the risks they face daily: "I had to negotiate with myself, 'Should I be silent? Or should I express myself?'  Hasan is now a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages at Oslo University, Norway and an adjunct research fellow at the Humanitarian and Development Initiative at Western Sydney University, Australia. Learn more about Hasan's work at: mubasharhasan.com  

Free to Think speaks with Katrin Kinzelbach and Lars Lott, researchers behind the Academic Freedom Index (AFI) which assesses levels of academic freedom in 179 countries and territories from 1900 to the present. Recent headlines suggest academic freedom is in retreat everywhere, but is it true? Katrin Kinzelbach and Lars Lott discuss the latest data from the AFI and how academic freedom may fit into wider trends of increasing political polarization worldwide. They describe how they collect data for and structure the report, and how researchers can get involved. The AFI is a collaboration between FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg and the V-Dem Institute. Now in its fifth edition, the AFI is a valuable tool for academics and policymakers. With it, Kinzelbach says, "we can have an independent measure, updated on an annual basis, to hold states to account."

Free to Think speaks with Achiro P. Olwoch, an award-winning writer, playwright, and filmmaker from Northern Uganda, and current scholar-at-risk and Weiss International Fellow at Barnard College in New York City. Achiro describes her recent play 'The Survival,' the impact of anti-LGBTQ+ laws in Uganda, and how living in New York has made her a "bolder artist." She also offers advice to fellow artists-in-exile: "It takes time. Allow yourself to learn, allow yourself to make mistakes, allow yourself to mourn, allow yourself to grow."  This episode is guest hosted by Leona Binz, a Program Officer on Scholars at Risk's Protection team, who has worked closely with Achiro since 2022 through SAR's Practitioners at-Risk program.  Watch Achiro's play 'The Survival' at the Criminal Queerness Festival at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in New York this June 2024.