In Short

ATIF MIAN, economics professor and director of the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance, was asked to resign from the Pakistan government’s Economic Advisory Council in early September because of his adherence to the Ahmadiyya faith. Mian, who is from Pakistan, tweeted Sept. 7 that he resigned for the “stability of the government of Pakistan,” saying that he faced “adverse pressure” from Muslim clerics and their supporters. “Serving my country is an inherent part of my faith and will always be my heartfelt desire,” he said. 

The United Nations working group on arbitrary detention concluded Aug. 23 that the government of Iran had “no legal basis for the arrest and detention” of imprisoned Princeton graduate student XIYUE WANG. The group said Iran committed multiple violations of Wang’s right to a fair trial, that his “deprivation of liberty is arbitrary,” and that he should be released immediately. Wang, a student in the history department, was arrested in August 2016 while studying Farsi and conducting research in Iran for his dissertation. He was convicted of espionage and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The University has denied Iran’s charges, and the U.N. panel found that Wang was using public records for academic purposes.