Student protests and sit-ins at some Iranian universities continued for the second day in a row today. The protesting students insist that with the killing and imprisonment of a number of their classmates, they will not “return to normal life.”
Today, Tuesday, February 14, images have been released showing students at the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery at Mashhad Azad University holding a photo of Faezeh Hosseini, a midwifery student who was killed in the protests, chanting: “The student dies, he will not accept humiliation.”
In recent days, reports of student sit-ins, boycotts of exams, and rallies have been published in various cities. Statements from some student organizations protest the holding of exams in order to “normalize” the situation.
The report that the bodies of two medical students who were among the top-ranked students in the 2014 Iranian Medical Entrance Exam (Imran Khan) were found in the Medical Alley dormitory also fueled these protests. Sharq newspaper reported on the incident, writing: “Irfan Taherkhani, ranked 55th in the exam, and Farhad Salari, ranked 57th in the exam, were in the medical field, among several students who have committed suicide in recent days.”
According to a story published by the newspaper, the news of the two students’ suicide “was published at 8:00 PM, but Tehran University of Medical Sciences refused to inform their families until 11:00 PM… In the end, the students themselves broke the lock… The university did not allow the bodies to be transferred to the forensic medicine until 1:00 AM.”
One of the images from the student protests that has been reposted many times is of Aida Heydari, a fourth-year medical student at Tehran University, lying on a chair in an empty classroom. She was reportedly killed “by gunfire during the protests on Kashani Street in Tehran.” Mehr News Agency quoted her father as saying that she was not present at the protests and was “just returning home with her family.”
Forced confessions from the families of those killed in protests have been a recurring occurrence, and concerns about the condition of detainees are also growing. Asghar Jahangir said in a press conference that “the judiciary, on behalf of the nation, will not release those who played a role in this American sedition.”
A spokesman for Iran’s judiciary said: “Anyone who was involved in the operation, whether it was a facilitator, an assistant or a participant” will be “prosecuted.” Regarding how many people have been summoned and cases have been filed against them, he said: “Let us provide accurate information once the preliminary investigations are completed,” but that these cases “are being processed quickly and indictments have been issued for some individuals.”
Thousands of people were reportedly arrested during the January 1404 protests, but there are no official figures. The lack of respect for the rights of the accused and the lack of due process are significant concerns for civil society and human rights organisations.