The Iranian regime has started harassing and prosecuting university students because of their participation in nationwide January protests alongside workers and the poor. On 18 June, Tehran University students staged a rally against the security forces’ breaking in colleges and arresting students and the shameless sentences by the courts that have decided to put students behind bars from two to eight years. The sentences are so shocking that even the Education Ministry officials have shown “dissatisfaction” and said they would discuss this with judiciary officials.
The judiciary that was silent on the outrageous sentences finally confirmed five students have been sentenced to between one to eight years in prison while the Education Ministry officials said that the number of the students involved was 11. The Tehran prosecutor general resorted to the bare-thread accusations that the students have been in contact with exiled political parties.
The Iranian student movement has a 60 year notable history of militancy. University students have always been in the forefront of fighting alongside the working class. During January’s protests, which marked a turning point, this was reflected in students’ slogans against both ruling factions, the regime has angrily decided to punish students and as a way to try to block the growth of left wing ideas.
We condemn the imprisonment of Iranian students and call for their immediate and unconditional freedom.
Free Leila Hosseinzadeh, Fereshteh Tousi, Ali Mozafari, Sina Omran, Matin Khalidi and Ebrahim Khalidi!
Please send protests to:
Science Minister Mansour Gholami via the Ministry of Science
[email protected]
Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani: http://samolilarijani.com/fa/contacts (This is his contact page; enter a name in the first box, an email address in the second box and a message in the large box)
President Hassan Rouhani
[email protected]
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