Continued Pressure on Activist Students; Saha Mortazaei Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison
Saha Mortazaei, a starred student at the University of Tehran and secretary of the university’s central student union council who had been detained since late November 2019, has been sentenced to 6 years in prison.
Mostafa Nili, Saha Mortazaei’s lawyer, announced on his Twitter page the notification of a verdict issued by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court for his client, writing that according to this verdict, Saha Mortazaei has been sentenced to 6 years in prison on charges of “assembly and conspiracy with intent to act against the country’s security.”
He added that the sit-in at the University of Tehran in protest against being designated as a “starred student,” participation in the November 2018 protests at the University of Tehran, and activities in the student union are examples of the charges against Ms. Mortazaei.
The Telegram channel of Iranian student unions also noted that this verdict was issued while universities across the country are operating at half capacity due to the possibility of coronavirus spread, writing: “Under the safe margin created for the suppression apparatus during the security shutdown period of universities and the second cultural revolution, students are being suppressed in silence.”
Saha Mortazaei was detained on the margins of public protests on November 27 in a student dormitory and transferred to an undisclosed location. Before her arrest, following her exclusion from doctoral studies, she had staged a sit-in for more than ten days in front of the central library of the University of Tehran while holding a placard.
She had previously been detained during the December 2017 protests and was sentenced by Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court in September of last year to six years in prison and a two-year ban on membership in political parties and groups.
This student’s exclusion from studies comes at a time when one of Hassan Rouhani’s campaign promises in the presidential election was to reinstate starred students in their education.
Source: Voice of America
