Tyranny in Tehran

international | rights, freedoms and repression | other press Monday October 01, 2007 11:56 by pat c

Robert Tait reports on the latest crackdown on dissidents in Iran, in particular on students who oppose the regime. He also illustrates the warm welcome Ahmadinejad received from students who physically drove him out of a University.

Mansouri, a student activist, was arrested due to the circulation of campus commentaries on Iran's Islamic system. Includeing the "incendiary "statement that neither Mohammad nor Imam Ali who is the most revered figure in the Shi'ite branch of Islam, were 'innocent'. It also argued that no figure in today's Iran should be considered 'sacred'. One publication said the highest number of prostitutes in Iran could be found in Qom, which is home to the country's religious establishment. In the cloying religious atmosphere of Iran's ruling theocracy, making such statements can be almost suicidal. Mansouri was one of eight students arrested. Five were released. He remains in custody along with Majid Tavakoli and Ahmad Ghasaban.

Relatives of the three say they have been tortured while in detention in an effort to extract confessions. A close associate of the men told me they had undergone interrogation sessions lasting up to 48 hours involving severe beatings. Interrogation teams of up to eight men have subjected the students to physical assaults interspersed with insults and psychological abuse. The students have been made to lie on the floor while interrogators stood on their backs. They are also said to have been beaten with electric cables. When they fainted from stress, the interrogators revived them by throwing cold water over them. Parents of the students have detailed the allegations in a letter to Iran's judiciary chief, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi. The men's families and friends insist that the publications were forgeries produced as a pretext for arresting them.

Ahmadinejad thought he had silenced his critics at the University, but he was mistaken. The plan began to backfire as he addressed a gathering of Basij students in the sports hall. Dozens of anti-government activists forced their way in and drowned out his speech by chanting 'Death to the Dictator'. In a characteristically Iranian put-down, they held Ahmadinejad portraits upside down and set them alight. One student displayed a banner reading: 'Fascist president, the polytechnic is not for you.'

The interruption provoked a furious melee in which punches were thrown and a shoe was hurled at the bemused president. Ahmadinejad was forced to cut his speech short and as he hurriedly left the campus, a member of his security detail fired a stun grenade to disperse angry activists attempting to follow him.