Second Day of Azad University Students’ Protest Over Officials’ ‘Incompetence’ in Bus Accident
A protest gathering by students of Azad University, Science and Research Unit, in objection to what they called ‘incompetence’ of Azad University officials, continued for the second consecutive day on Sunday, December 30.
Images circulated on social media show that students of Azad University’s Science and Research Unit gathered for the second consecutive day on Sunday, December 30, to protest the bus accident involving students of the university.
Protesting students began their gathering from the university entrance and, while chanting “Students die, we accept no humiliation,” called on other students to join them. The protesters demanded that Azad University officials be held accountable regarding the recent bus accident.
Borna News Agency initially reported, by releasing a video allegedly showing a vehicle carrying Azad University President hitting two students in the foot and stated that Tahanchian had used force to clear his path, but hours later the news agency denied the report and announced that such a claim was not accurate.
Nevertheless, students protested to “Mohammad Jafar Montazeri,” Iran’s Prosecutor General, who attended the gathering of protesters, over Tahanchian’s vehicle passing through the students. Some circulated images also indicate the presence of an ambulance vehicle at the university.
Other images have been released showing Tahanchian present among students responding to their protests.
However, Iran’s Prosecutor General announced among the students an immediate order from the Head of the Judiciary to investigate the accident. In the latest statements, Mostafa Kavakbian, a parliament representative, also requested in the parliamentary session on Sunday that a session be held to investigate the bus accident. He stated: “Just as you held a session for a representative and investigated the incident, hold a session here too, especially since they say a group of ‘counter-revolutionaries’ cut the bus brakes.”
Hundreds of students from Azad Islamic University, Science and Research Unit in Tehran, also gathered at the university on Saturday morning, December 29, demanding prosecution of those responsible for the accident, including Ali Akbar Velayati, Chairman of the Azad University Board of Trustees.
In a statement signed by students in the form of a petition, these students announced their demands as: resignation and apology from the head of the Science and Research Unit and the president of Azad University, a formal apology from the podium by the unit head and university president, permanent establishment of emergency services on campus, fleet modernization and speed limit establishment and installation of technical inspection certificates on buses. They had said they would continue their gathering until one of the senior officials of Azad University appeared.
Also, the mother of “Niloofar Radmehr,” one of the victims of the accident, was present at today’s protest gathering and demanded officials be held accountable. She asked students not to leave her alone in this path and said, “How is it that when a Karbala bus overturns, they are called ‘martyrs,’ but our children are called ‘casualties.’ They are martyrs of the path of knowledge.” Her words were welcomed by students, and they chanted “We will stand, we will stand, we will reclaim your rights.”
One of the protesting students had also told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) that the resignation of the highest officials responsible and the head of the university and the head of Science and Research is the minimum price these people should pay; they were not even willing to apologize.
The overturning of a bus carrying students of the Science and Research Unit of Azad Islamic University on Tuesday, December 4, initially resulted in 8 deaths and 28 injuries, but the death toll subsequently reached 10 people.
Four days after the accident occurred, according to reports, 15 of the accident victims remain hospitalized, and three of them are reported to be in critical condition.
After the accident, one of the Azad University officials told Fars News Agency that the cause of the accident was the driver’s “stroke.” However, Judge Shahriariyan, Deputy Prosecutor of Tehran and Head of the Criminal Prosecutor’s Office, said that in the autopsy of the bus driver, no signs of heart attack or stroke were detected.
On the other hand, Navab Hosseini-Manesh, Managing Director of Tehran City Vehicle Technical Inspection Headquarters, told Fars News Agency that the bus had no “technical inspection” and had been “decommissioned” six years ago. He added that the Governor of Tehran had previously issued a circular stating that “vehicles without technical inspection belonging to government departments also have no right to circulate”; however, this vehicle was being used.
Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, Prosecutor of Tehran, said last night that “2 people, including a transportation contractor and the facilities manager” of the university have been arrested, and two university officials have also been summoned to the prosecutor’s office, and a special committee investigating the bus accident of Azad University’s Science and Research Unit has announced the dismissal of five managers of this university.
Source: Voice of America
