Pedestrian

In preparation for making sure there is as little turnout on 16 Azar as possible, the state authorities have been at the students full force.

Just six days ago, almost a dozen student activists were arrested. Ali Reza Mousavi, Mehrdad Bozorgh and Sourena Hashemi were among those who are in custody.

Other less active students were called at home and threatened with “arrests and expulsion” if they did not suspend their activities.

150 students in the cities of Ahvaz and Najafabad were called into their schools’ disciplinary committees. Somes of these students have been threatened with expulsion and/or prison for the student protests on 13 Aban which led to school closing. Others, Mowjcamp reports have been expelled.

At Khajeh Nasir University, after two students Ali Parviz and Soheil Mohammadi were detained, the students have been holding daily hunger strikes. Now, ten students have been called into the disciplinary committee and have been asked to offer explanations regarding their part in “provoking other students to protest, participating in hunger strikes, creating chaos at school, engaging in political activity, …”

At the same time, Mohseni Ejei former minister of intelligence and current head of the supreme court has given a warning to the 16 Azar participants.

Here he first praises the system for its “soft approach” towards the post-election “criminals” while “people were asking us to give these individuals severe punishments, we were very, very soft and kind to them because they had families, because they were sorry for what they did, … ” He continues: “We have been very soft until now any future participants in illegal demonstrations will be severely punished.”