A FORMER Bathurst woman has been named as the University of Melbourne academic reportedly sentenced to a 10-year jail term in Iran.
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Australian-British Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert was named on Saturday as the woman being held behind bars at Tehran's notorious Evin prison.
While the charges against her remain unclear, 10-year terms are routinely given in Iran for spying charges, the Times of London previously reported.
Dr Moore-Gilbert's family issued a statement on Saturday stating they were "in close contact with the Australian government".
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"Our family thanks the government and the University of Melbourne for their ongoing support at this distressing and sensitive time," the statement reads.
"We believe that the best chance of securing Kylie's safe return is through diplomatic channels."
Dr Moore-Gilbert is a former All Saints' College student who, in 2011, wrote a column for the Western Advocate detailing her chance meeting with Wikileaks found Julian Assange after he made a speech at the University of Cambridge Union.
"Assange, being on bail and currently launching his appeal against a British courts recent ruling that he should be extradited to Sweden on sexual assault charges, was prohibited from speaking about the case or his legal troubles," Dr Moore-Gilbert wrote.
"Instead, he spoke about the role of Wikileaks in the current unrest in the Arab world (saying it played a much larger role than that of Twitter or Facebook in bringing down Ben Ali and Mubarak), and the difficulty the organisation has in obtaining funding, due to the campaign against them which prevents them from receiving donations via Paypal, Visa, etc.
[Assange] spoke about the role of Wikileaks in the current unrest in the Arab world ... and the difficulty the organisation has in obtaining funding, due to the campaign against them ...
- Dr Kylie Gilbert-Moore writing in the Western Advocate in 2011
''He was asked several questions about his own personal moral code.
"He admitted that he is guided by his own set of ethics, saying that if his sources disagreed with the way he used their leaks, such as the timing as to when the leaks are released [he said he aimed for 'maximum impact'], then they would stop leaking their information to Wikileaks. In this way the system is 'democratic'."
Dr Moore-Gilbert is now a lecturer in Islamic studies at the Asia Institute and specialises in Middle Eastern politics with a focus on the Arab Gulf states, her work profile states.
She has been held in jail for several months.
Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne told the Senate on Thursday three Australians were being held in prison in Iran in relation to two separate cases.
"The government has been making efforts to ensure they are treated fairly, humanely and in accordance with international norms," she said.
Globetrotting Perth couple Mark Firkin and Jolie King were also confirmed this week as being held in the same prison for flying a drone without a licence.
The notorious Evin prison is where Iran holds its political prisoners and has a reputation as the scene of various human rights abuses, including summary executions.
Additional reporting by Christine McGinn and Australian Associated Press
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