On June 10, 2010, several students were arrested in the city of Shiraz and taken to the detention centre belonging to the Ministry of Intelligence. According to the students’ lawyer Majid Razmjoo, the students had obtained a permit [by authorities] on behalf of the association Tose’eh Melli and began to organize a seminar. Consequently, this action led to several student arrests.
Among the arrested are Farshid Rezazadeh, the managing director of the Tose’eh Melli publication, Hamideh Moradi, the editor-in-chief of the publication, Mehrdad Razmjooyi, Atena Alavi, Najmeh Sotoodeh, Payman Hajizadeh, and Masoud Shams. There are separate reports of other student arrests, but the number is unknown.
Lawyer Razmjoo has not been able to meet with his clients and was told by the judicial authorities that he will not be able to review their files as long as the investigations continue. The students have not yet been officially indicted, but according to Razmjoo, their families were informed that the accusations against them are organizing riots, spreading anti-Prophet propaganda, promoting monarchism and secularism, and distributing anti-religious CDs.
The Tose’eh Melli publication launch date was May 30, 2010, but the event was cancelled after the venue of the seminar was raided by Intelligence agents.
Rahana