Personal Account of a Student; Mohaddeseh Fatemi: I Was Suspended for Not Adhering to Mandatory Hijab Outside the University

A student from Alzahra University states that the university's security and disciplinary committee has suspended her for three semesters due to "file fabrication" and has accused her of "spreading falsehoods" and "conspiracy and collusion." Mohaddeseh Fatemi, a computer science student at Alzahra University, announced on her personal account on the social media platform X on Tuesday, September 3, that she was sentenced to three semesters of suspension with consideration of previous semesters due to two consecutive cases from the disciplinary committee. She stated that last semester she was already suspended and with the start of the new academic year, she must also spend two more semesters in suspension. The disciplinary committee has been filing a case against her since last November for "not adhering to the mandatory hijab in a non-university environment," citing two photos taken "without her consent" as evidence. A member of the Islamic Assembly of Alzahra University also added that on December 7 of last year, "simultaneously with Student Day, another report from security was issued to the disciplinary committee due to my interview published by domestic media among a group of student activists," and "on the same day, the disciplinary committee notified me of a one-semester suspension with consideration of previous semesters due to the prior case." According to her, university officials later announced that "the Islamic Assembly of Alzahra University has no legal existence due to created legal issues." Mohaddeseh Fatemi also mentioned that security informed her "without delivering the ruling" that "the previous ruling was upheld on appeal" and that they obtained her signature under psychological pressure to confirm the ruling, and she was informed of the two-semester suspension of the next case via phone due to her prohibition from entering the university. This protesting student also said that following her interview with domestic media, the secretary of the disciplinary committee accused her of "spreading falsehoods" and stated that "I should have taken the university's complaint to them and was obliged to maintain my dignity." Mohaddeseh Fatemi also stated that the disciplinary committee attributed other accusations to her, including "conspiracy and collusion, communication with networks" outside the country, which Iranian officials refer to as "opposition," and also "leading protests in the Women, Life, Freedom movement." This student also expressed that "due to fabricated cases, I am not allowed to attend classes for three semesters," stating that "all fabricated cases were communicated to me only verbally" and added: "To this day, I have not been able to see my ruling." The suspension of female students from studying at Alzahra and Tehran universities due to protests or not adhering to the mandatory hijab mandated by the Islamic Republic has also been reported in recent days. Reports of the issuance of suspension and expulsion rulings against students continue, while Masoud Pezeshkian recently called for a review of the status of expelled professors and canceled contracts from universities and the rulings issued against students, stating: "A student cannot be a bad person; they protest, and I must respond to them, or their words are correct, and I must obey, or they are mistaken, and I must guide them." Pezeshkian's alleged criticism of the dismissal of professors and the expulsion of students during Ebrahim Raisi's administration comes while he previously acknowledged in 2014 that he participated in the "purges of the early revolution" and stated that when "the issue of hijab had not yet been discussed, I made hijab mandatory in hospitals and universities and told the Revolutionary Court, I issued a directive that everyone must wear a headscarf, manteau, and long-sleeved clothing. The issue of hijab had not yet been discussed, and after that, it was announced." Furthermore, Pezeshkian's statements regarding the groundwork for the return of expelled and suspended professors and students to universities coincided with the expulsion of another professor named Mahmoud Mohtazpour, who had supported popular protests, from Amir Kabir University. Following the nationwide protests in 2021 after the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police, which also permeated universities, thousands of students faced legal cases and disciplinary rulings from university security and were left suspended or expelled from their studies. The expulsion from work after the nationwide protests in 2021 was not limited to university professors and also included several teachers' union activists and members of families seeking justice.