Crackdown on Activists in Iran Continues; Two Student Activists Beaten and Arrested
In recent days, two student activists and elite students from Sharif University of Technology named Ali Younesi, a computer engineering student, and Amirhossein Moradi, a physics student, have been arrested by security forces in Tehran.
The Campaign to Defend Political and Civil Prisoners announced on Tuesday, Ordibehesht 2, that these two student activists were arrested on Friday, Farvardin 22, by plainclothes forces without presenting a warrant and with physical abuse at their place of residence, and were transferred to an unknown location.
According to this report, security forces searched the homes of Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi at the time of arrest and confiscated a number of personal belongings including mobile phones and computers belonging to these students, taking them away.
According to the Campaign to Defend Political and Civil Prisoners, as of this moment, there is no information regarding the reasons for the arrest and the condition of these two students. Based on this report, Messrs. Younesi and Moradi are both among the country’s elite students and holders of medals and top positions in Iran’s and the world’s scientific olympiads.
These arrests are taking place by security forces in Iran at a time when human rights activists and the United Nations human rights special rapporteur on Iran are calling for the release of political and ideological prisoners from Iranian prisons following the coronavirus outbreak.
Javaid Rahman, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, asked the Islamic Republic on Tuesday, Esfand 20, to temporarily release all prisoners. He emphasized that keeping political prisoners in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak is “regrettable and concerning.”
Also, Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, said on Wednesday, Farvardin 6, in a press conference: “We have asked not only Syria, but also the Islamic Republic of Iran, under these circumstances, to release not only American citizens, but all those who have been unjustly imprisoned. This is a humanitarian measure, and apart from the fact that these individuals have been illegally imprisoned, under these circumstances humanitarian principles dictate.”
Source: Voice of America
