Ali Younesi's family's reaction to the public interrogation session of two imprisoned students at the Tehran Public Prosecutor's Office
Following the public interrogation session of Amir Hossein Moradi and Ali Younesi, two detained students, Ali Younesi's family members protested against this action and the two students' lack of access to a lawyer.
On Friday, July 17, Aida Younesi, Ali Younesi's sister, posted a message on Twitter, referring to the situation of her brother and Amir Hossein Moradi, calling it an injustice to take the two students to a public interrogation session, in a situation where they are "unable to speak clearly due to threats and mental torture and concerns about the situation of their families."
In another message on Twitter, he published a quote from one of the attendees at the meeting, writing: "What have you done that they can't speak properly and in a row ? "
The quote reads: "It's the children's turn to speak; as they speak, you can't understand what the next sentence is. They abandon each sentence halfway and move on to the next. At first, they are confused about what to say and what not to say. Perhaps this stuttering was due to the stress they were under."
Ali Younesi said in this meeting that he was worried about his family.
This public interrogation session, which was later turned into a confession by a representative of the judiciary, was held on Monday at the Tehran General Prosecutor's Office, with the presence of several representatives from Sharif University of Technology and representatives of the judiciary.
According to the transcript of the meeting prepared by a university representative, Amir Hossein Moradi and Ali Younesi did not specifically admit any charges during the meeting, and when the representative of the judiciary insisted on admitting charges, he was met with a reaction from a number of student representatives who protested against the “pressure” placed on Ali Younesi. One of the students said, “We did not come here to extract a confession either. Let them be comfortable.”
Reza Younesi, Ali Younesi's brother, wrote on Twitter that the families of the two detained students were not informed of their public interrogation session. He also protested that the two 20-year-old students were taken to the public hearing without having a lawyer of their choice or meeting with their families.
He continued: "The meeting was held with the presence of Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi and a number of professors and students, some (but not all) of which are completely affiliated with the security institutions and participated in the role of interrogators to conduct a mass interrogation."
In this meeting, a representative from Sharif University of Technology called for these students to meet with their families, exercise their right to choose a lawyer, and be able to attend university next semester.
Ali Younesi, a computer engineering student, and Amir Hossein Moradi, a physics student, were arrested by plainclothes officers on Friday, April 12, without a warrant and beaten at their residence and taken to an unknown location .
These arrests are being made by security forces in Iran at a time when human rights activists and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran have called for the release of political and ideological prisoners from Iranian prisons in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak .
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also said in a press conference on Wednesday, April 26: "We have asked not only Syria, but also the Islamic Republic of Iran to release not only American citizens, but all those who have been unjustly imprisoned in these circumstances. This is a humanitarian act, and apart from the fact that these people have been illegally imprisoned, the principle of humanitarianism prevails in these circumstances."
Source: Voice of America
