Students stage protest rally at Tehran University as Rouhani delivers speech

Simultaneously with Hassan Rouhani's speech at the University of Tehran, a group of students of the university held a protest rally in the university courtyard on Wednesday, October 14, demanding the release of imprisoned students.

The protests by students at the University of Tehran come at a time when student sources have described the university environment as very "secure."

The Telegram channel of the country's student councils wrote that the rally was held in a "high security environment," and that the search of students' bags and belongings upon entering the university and the presence of a large number of security forces and uniformed personnel inside the university grounds were examples of this security environment.

The Iranian President's speech at Tehran University continues while Soha Mortezaei, a student deprived of her education and former secretary of the Central Union Council of Tehran University Students, has been staging a sit-in in front of the Central Library of Tehran University for the fifth consecutive day.

Soha Mortezaei, a student who was arrested during the protests in January 2017, has been sentenced to six years in prison and a two-year ban from membership in political parties and groups.

The Telegram channel of the Iranian Student Councils reported that "Allameh Amini Hall of the Central Library of Tehran University, where Hassan Rouhani gave a speech, was empty of students and the text of the speeches was dictated."

One of Hassan Rouhani's campaign promises in the presidential election was to return star-studded students to education.

Students protesting Rouhani's presence at Tehran University have called it a "show" and are protesting the sentences issued for the arrested students.

In recent months, the Islamic Republic has increased security clashes with students and issued prison sentences for them.

Protesting students in this gathering, with the slogan "The Intelligence Branch guards the university," protested against the security environment of universities. They also chanted slogans such as "Money-grubbing university, hardworking people in prison," "Empty classroom, imprisoned student," and "Student worker, unity of unity," and protested against the imprisonment of students.

Previously, students at the University of Tehran had held a rally in July of this year to protest against the sentences issued to students.

Also, on June 20 of this year, a group of professors and lecturers at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Tehran sent a letter to Mansour Gholami, the Minister of Science, Research and Technology, demanding the release of Marzieh Amiri, a journalist and social sciences student at the University of Tehran.

During the nationwide protests in Iran that began on Thursday, January 27, 2017 and spread to more than 80 cities in Iran, about 100 students were arrested across Iran. Soha Mortezaei, Marzieh Amiri, Leila Hosseinzadeh, Parisa Rafiei, and Mohsen Haghshenas were among the students of this university who were arrested during the nationwide protests in 2017.

The heavy prison sentences handed down to students who were arrested following protests in January of last year have drawn criticism from human rights activists.

Human Rights Watch also condemned the harsh judicial sentences against the students.

The then-US State Department spokesperson also tweeted: "We condemn Iran's action in issuing prison sentences for students who were peacefully demonstrating."

Source: Voice of America