Immediate Release of Detained Students Requested in Letter from 37 Student Organizations to the Minister of Science

37 student organizations wrote a letter to Mansour Gholami, the Minister of Science, Research, and Technology, demanding the follow-up on the status of detained students and their unconditional release. According to ISNA news agency, this letter, published on Sunday, January 7, criticized the breach of university autonomy, referred to as 'the last bastion of freedom and realm of thought,' by security and military institutions, as well as 'illegitimate interference in university affairs.' The letter stated: 'A student is a civil watchdog of society and the voice of the people whose backs are bent under the pressure of inflation; their concerns for their community are an inseparable part of their student life, but unfortunately, for years, student activities have been threatened by various institutions.' The 37 student organizations, whose names were not mentioned by ISNA, expressed regret over the detention of 'a number of elementary school friends for vague reasons,' adding that 'there is no information available about their status.' Previously, over 30 student councils from Iranian universities had criticized the detention of students in letters to Mansour Gholami in recent days, demanding their release. According to ISNA, the 37 student organizations referred to Article 12 of the Student Rights Charter, which states that peaceful assemblies and protests in universities are free and unobstructed, adding: 'According to Article 27 of the Constitution, gatherings are free as long as they do not involve weapons and do not contradict Islamic principles; how can a number of students be detained for baseless reasons?' Reports indicate that about 100 students and student union activists have been detained by the Ministry of Intelligence, with some recently released. In this context, according to ISNA, Hossein Salimi, the president of Allameh Tabatabai University, announced the release of 13 students from this university, stating that two other detained students would also be released in the coming days. He noted that several students from Allameh Tabatabai University had visited the university to follow up on the issues of one of the detainees from recent events, and after leaving the university, they faced problems, leading to the detention of 15 students. Meanwhile, Bahram Parsai, spokesperson for the Hope faction in the parliament, stated on Sunday in an interview with Etemad Online news website that, according to the Minister of Intelligence, 'a large number of students have been released so far, and the rest will be released soon. Based on what we know, there is no serious issue.' This parliament member did not mention the names of the released students. In this regard, student organizations have only referred to a few names among the approximately 100 detained students and student union activists. According to Etemad Online, the Minister of Science, Research, and Technology stated that a quarter of them have been released. The detention of this group of students and student activists occurred while Farid Mousavi, a parliament member, tweeted that their detention was for 'preventive' purposes, but did not specify the aim of this prevention. Earlier, Fatemeh Salhashouri, another parliament member, announced that agents from the Ministry of Intelligence carried out these detentions. These detentions occurred under circumstances where, according to Mahmoud Sadqi, a parliament member, 'based on reliable information, some of the detained students were not even present at the protests.'