Dolatabadi Links Detained Students from December Protests to 'Foreign Movements'

In response to protests against the heavy sentences for students detained in December, Tehran's prosecutor on Saturday, July 9, noted that the Ministry of Science has not yet announced their names and introduced these students as being connected to 'political movements outside' the country. This judicial official also emphasized that the protests of December 2017 were 'not demonstrations, but riots and chaos,' which 'carry very heavy penalties.' According to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), citing the Tehran prosecutor, the reason for the heavy sentences for some of these students is their connection to 'specific groups' outside the country. This judicial official did not mention the names of these groups or the nature of the students' possible connections with them. This is the first time such accusations have been raised against students who were arrested during the widespread protests in December 2017 and were sentenced in court to 'heavy' sentences of up to eight years in prison. In December, during nationwide protests in Iran, over a hundred students were arrested, mainly in Tehran, and less than two months later, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a representative from Tehran in the parliament, reported that judicial cases had been formed for fifty of these students. The judiciary did not announce the charges against the detainees, but Fereydoun Mousavi, another parliamentary representative, described these arrests as 'preventive.' Following reports of heavy sentences for some of these students, including eight years in prison for Ali Mozaffari, a student at Tehran University, students from several universities in the city protested and even refused to participate in their final exams. In response to these protests, Shahindokht Molaverdi, the President's special assistant for citizen affairs, announced at the beginning of July that the government was pursuing the issue and criticized the 'heavy' sentences. Ms. Molaverdi stated that the number of these students was 11. In this context, Mansour Gholami, the Minister of Science, Research, and Technology, also mentioned on July 6 that 'the sentences issued for the students seem to us to be excessively high' and that he had spoken with officials from the judiciary about this matter. However, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, stated that 'the Ministry of Science has not yet made an official request regarding the students and has not announced their names.' Mr. Dolatabadi even expressed doubt about the number of 11 students, saying, 'We have identified five of them for whom sentences have been issued.' According to the Tehran prosecutor, the sentences issued for these students range from one to five years in prison, but 'some of them have multiple charges and have received sentences of up to eight years.' He further explained: 'Some of these students are related to political movements; not political movements within the system, but they may be from specific groups, and if their sentences have been severe, it is for this reason.' The public disclosure of the students' sentences began several months ago, and it had previously been reported that Leila Hassan-Zadeh, Mohsen Haqshenas, and Sina Rabiei, students at Tehran University, had been sentenced to six, two, and one year in prison, respectively, along with travel bans. Mahmoud Sadeghi, a parliamentary representative, reported on Thursday, July 7, via Twitter that the sentences for these students were issued based on reports and interrogations by the Ministry of Intelligence of Hassan Rouhani's government. The protesting students had previously identified the Ministry of Intelligence of Rouhani's government as responsible for the arrests and had severely criticized the performance of Rouhani's government in this regard.