Student Guild Councils: The Government and Authority Used Protest Opportunities to Crack Down on Students

Student guild councils across Iran have declared the "mass and illegal" arrests of several university students following recent street protests as a sign of the "fear" of responsible institutions from independent movements. In a statement published on their Telegram channel, it was noted that in recent days, "students and guild activists, alongside other citizens, have endured difficult times." 35 student guild councils from universities across Iran criticized the government and all responsible institutions both inside and outside universities for taking advantage of the opportunity presented by the onset of "widespread livelihood-centered protests" to exert pressure on independent and guild activists across the country. The statement mentioned that "mass and illegal arrests only demonstrate how much the responsible institutions fear an independent movement that voices the demands of students and represents the lower classes of society." The student guild councils added that an examination of their positions in recent years shows that their activities have always had a "guild nature." The statement also identified issues such as "privatization of education, academic years, security confrontations, decline in the quality of student nutrition and dormitory conditions following privatization, environmental health at universities, and accessibility of public spaces for students" as examples of guild activities. The student guild councils across Iran also considered these guild issues to be influenced by "macro-economic and social policies" and added that "the educational and living quality of universities is closely linked to the budget allocated to universities and the perspective on university issues in development programs." In connection with this statement and in response to the arrests of several students following recent street protests, over 1500 students from Tehran University and Tehran University of Medical Sciences also signed a protest statement. In a section of this statement published on the Ensaf News website, it was noted that "many" of the arrested students were not present at the gatherings and were "arrested under an unacceptable pretext of prevention." These students pointed out that families of the arrested students were unaware of their situation for several days after their arrests, stating that "even after days, many families' inquiries at detention centers have remained unanswered and fruitless." Fatemeh Saidi, a representative from Tehran and a member of the parliamentary committee monitoring the status of arrested students, announced that between 25 to 30 students and four school students are still detained across the country. Ms. Saidi stated in an interview with Etemad Online that the total number of arrested students is about 120. In the statement signed by 1500 students, criticizing the "ambiguous and unjustified arrest process of most students," it was mentioned that "despite the efforts of professors and university officials, and also the promises of government officials regarding the prompt release of all students, a significant number of them remain detained." These students considered the "problematic arrest process and its continuation" to be a cause of "serious concern and a strong demand from the vast majority of students for the release of their fellow students" and deemed attributing "charges such as rioting" to student activities as "meaningless and detached from reality." The statement, noting the approaching exam season at universities, called for the "immediate and unconditional" release of detained students and warned that universities would remain "sensitive" to the issuance of judicial sentences and the formation of cases that lead to "any kind of entanglement, deprivation, and imprisonment" for detained students. The students signing this statement emphasized that they share a "commonality" in their resolute demand for the freedom of their fellow students, regardless of ideological and political orientations. The statement also warned relevant authorities that if the detained students are not released, "this widespread and determined collective will shall not subside and will not rest until all students are freed and not prosecuted." Following street protests in over 100 cities in Iran, dozens of students, despite not participating in the protests, were arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence. According to several members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, including Farid Mousavi and Mahmoud Sadeghi, judicial and security officials stated that these students were arrested for "preventive" purposes. These arrests have drawn criticism from some legal experts, including Shirin Ebadi and Nasrin Sotoudeh, who stated that there is no law in Iran for preemptive arrests aimed at prevention. In response to the arrests of students in Iran, over 50 Iranian professors from universities abroad issued a statement protesting the detention of dozens of students and called for their unconditional release. Meanwhile, according to ISNA news agency, the cultural deputy of Tehran University announced the release of 36 detained students from this university and said: "We are seriously following up on the status of the remaining six students in detention and hope they will also be released soon." Majid Sarsangi added: "For two of these students, no case has been formed yet, and the judge must first establish a case before issuing a decision. For the other four, their situation is almost clear, and we are waiting for their families to come for bail and guarantees." Nonetheless, he noted that the families of the detained students have not yet been able to visit from the provinces to post bail for their children due to some difficulties.