A group of students met with the dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences to follow up on the status of a student activist

A group of students from the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Tehran met with the dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and requested that attention be paid to the situation of Leila Hosseinzadeh, a student activist who has been detained since December 7th and whose exact status remains unknown.

The telegram channel of Iran’s student guilds councils reported this news and stated that on Monday, December 13th, these students visited the office of Gholamreza Jamshidiha, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences. Expressing severe concern about the detention, health status, and lack of information about Leila Hosseinzadeh, a graduate student of anthropology at the university, they reminded university officials of the need for immediate intervention in the matter of this student’s detention and demanded urgent follow-up on the status of this imprisoned student.

It is reported that the dean of the university promised the students that he would follow up on Ms. Hosseinzadeh’s detention status.

Further in this report, it was stated that the University of Tehran’s security forces attempted to disrupt the students’ follow-up meeting by creating an atmosphere of fear and recording the names of these students.

According to the report by Iran’s student guilds councils, these students, following their meeting with the dean, announced in a student session that in the event the detention continues and the lack of information about Ms. Hosseinzadeh persists, they will consider options such as shutting down virtual classes or organizing protest gatherings.

A well-informed source previously told Voice of America that Leila Hosseinzadeh was arrested during a recreational trip to Shiraz, along with 9 others, in a raid by Ministry of Intelligence forces, and hours after the detention, all the arrested individuals except Ms. Hosseinzadeh were released.

This informed source, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told Voice of America that after her arrest, this student activist was transferred to the detention facility of the Ministry of Intelligence known as “Plate 100” in Shiraz and has had no contact with her family since.

The telegram channel of Iran’s student guilds councils further reported that these students also warned the dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Gholamreza Jamshidiha, about the establishment of a security atmosphere and file-making against student activists in the university.

On Wednesday, December 8th, the Fars News Agency published a report regarding the detention of several citizens in Shiraz stating: “Several elements connected with counter-revolutionary currents and networks of foreign-based opposition, who under the leadership of Ms. L.H. in Shiraz, had attempted to launch gatherings of corruption to mislead and attract youth, have been arrested.”

However, Amir Raisian, Leila Hosseinzadeh’s defense lawyer, on his Twitter page called the news published by Fars News Agency false and fabricated, writing: “The Fars report is false and fabricated for two reasons: 1- If the claim is about ‘corruption and crimes against public chastity,’ the investigator has no right to investigate, 2- Only one person has been detained.”

The Syndicate of Workers of the United Bus Company of Tehran and Suburbs also, on Sunday, December 12th, issued a statement condemning the detention of Leila Hosseinzadeh and expressed concern about her health status, demanding her release.

This syndicate, referring to the confirmation of Ms. Hosseinzadeh’s five-year prison sentence by Branch 36 of the Court of Appeals for Extraordinary Cases and just days before the detention of this student activist, wrote that her activities have been in defense of the working class and she must be released unconditionally and immediately.

Source: Voice of America