Despite Amnesty Claim By Iran, Environmental Activists Still In Prison

Morteza Farrokhi, the Legal Deputy of Science Ministry, told ISNA Monday that "if there are any cases of dismissal, it has been due to their academic incompetence."

This comes as there had been numerous reports about the suspension or dismissal of dozens of professors from universities across the country in the past months.

The latest case was Hasan Baqerinia, a professor at Hakim Sabzevari University, who was dismissed for supporting the protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in September.

On February 4, he announced on his Instagram that the security forces are threatening him.

Before that, Amir Maziar, a faculty member of Tehran University's Faculty of Theoretical Sciences and Advanced Art Studies, announced his suspension as well as the suspension of another professor of the university, Kourosh Golnari.

Iranian media reported in early February that nine professors of Tehran Azad University have been forced into early retirement because of expressing critical views against the Islamic Republic.

Moderate news website Rouydad 24 has quoted Susan Safaverdi, one of the professors as saying that they were expelled because they were not “revolutionary”.

She further noted that she and the eight others, who are expelled on the pretext of reaching the retirement age, have been repeatedly accused of being “anti-establishment”.

Javaid Rehman made the remarks during an event held by the International Organization to Preserve Human Rights (IOPHR), a London-based think tank which promotes equality, inclusivity and social development and is currently focusing on the Islamic Republic. The meeting, titled “How to stop the global threat of the Iranian regime,” was held at the UK’s House of Commons on February 8, in which participants discussed how the UK government could support anti-regime protesters. 

Rehman, who has repeatedly condemned the Islamic Republic over its rights violations, has intensified his rhetoric and tone about holding Tehran accountable over its violent crackdown on protests that have convulsed the country since mid-September. The clerical regime has killed over 500 people to say that it did not kill 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who was fatally injured after being arrested by the notorious ‘hijab police’. 

In a strongly worded speech, Rehman called for the international community to take more action against Iranian officials through available legal means in order to bring them to account and condemned the brutality of the Iranian state, which he described as “a threat to regional and international security.” 

He said that “the manner in which the Iranian regime handled these protests is heart-wrenching and painful to elaborate,” adding “I am horrified, shocked and outraged.”

Despite all the international measures and calls for restraint, “the Iranian authorities have thus far executed at least four persons associated with the protests. They’ve been tried arbitrarily, summarily and through sham trials which violate the right to fair trials and due process,” he noted. 

Calling Iran’s level of executions and its use against minorities “deplorable,” he said, “These executions are used as a tool of repression to instill fear, and these are symbols of Iranian state brutality.” These executions are” a tool that the regime adopts in order to terrorize its own people as well as foreign and dual nationals.” 

Calling Iran’s level of executions and its use against minorities “deplorable,” he said, “These executions are used as a tool of repression to instill fear, and these are symbols of Iranian state brutality.” These executions are” a tool that the regime adopts in order to terrorize its own people as well as foreign and dual nationals.” 

Answering a question from Iran International’s Adam Baillie about measures against the IRGC, Prof. Rehman said that for him the big question was holding the IRGC accountable for crimes it may have committed, such as the shooting down of a Ukrainian airline in January 2020. 

Rehman also decried the regime’s hostage-taking policy, noting that “such instrumentalization of individuals amounts to hostage taking and must be recognized as such. And all those involved in acts of hostage taking must be held accountable.”

He argued that there are legal means to prosecute Iranian individuals incriminated in human rights abuses over and above sanctions, pointing out that many Iranian officials who are human rights violators are at liberty in London while persecuting their countrymen at home. “What we see is that there are many human rights violators roaming around London without accountability, they have assets which they use, they have families which enjoy those benefits and yet they cherish, see and enjoy targeting and victimizing people back home, which should not happen.”

He also expressed abhorrence of Tehran’s threats and harassment of journalists abroad and called for technology companies to make online communication tools available to the Iranian people. “In order to achieve its agenda of threats and generating fear, the Iranian regime actively blocks information,” he said, slamming severe internet disruption and censorship of social media platforms. 

Noting that the Iranian regime violates human dignity and respect for women with impunity, he said that “the law of enforcement of hijab and the manner of its enforcement by state authorities is emblematic of violence, brutality and violations of the fundamental human rights.”

“The international community and the United Kingdom cannot engage with a state which continues to violate the dignity and fundamental rights of its own people, in particular its children,” Rehman underlined. 

He added, “I believe there are so many avenues...it may not be obvious to us, but we have to find ways to hold individuals accountable, including people right at the top. And this must be done to ensure justice. And while I appreciate all the efforts being done, including sanctions, I think ultimately accountability would mean a lot more to the people of Iran.”

Judiciary Spokesman Masoud Setayeshi claimed Sunday that so far, 26 people have been arrested in the case who are accused of acquiring stolen property and money laundering.

In June 2022, thieves broke into at least 200 safety deposit boxes in a central Tehran branch of Iran’s largest bank. Apparently, the robbers gained access from an adjacent building during the holiday.

The case made national headlines, but the indicted individuals have been freed on bail while four protesters were tried and hanged in December after sham trials in a matter of a few weeks after their arrest. Thousands of other protesters have been beaten and tortured in prisons and more than a dozen have received the death penalty.

State media revealed that the bank’s alarm was not connected to the police and had only sent a text message to the branch manager, who ignored it as the system had been prone to false alerts.

Four days later police displayed recovered money and gold after they announced the arrest of 13 people allegedly involved in the large bank heist in Tehran.

The surprisingly quick reaction and arrests by the police raised eyebrows with many seeing it as an ‘inside job’.

Referring to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s amnesty for some prisoners arrested during antigovernment protests in recent months, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri claimed it was a “clemency” by the Supreme Leader.

When the crime of every person is proven, he will be indicted and must be punished, he said during a three-day visit to Esfahan province.

“The right of amnesty has been given to the Leader in the Constitution, which is carried out at the request of Chief Justice. If the leader thinks it is necessary, he might pardon the condemned people,” added Montazeri.

Government media reported February 5 that Khamenei “agreed” with a proposal by the country’s Judiciary to take what appears to be a political move to show clemency after hundreds were killed and around 19,000 arrested.

It is not clear from the announcement how many or which prisoners will be pardoned and whose sentences will be reduced. While thousands of young and teenage protesters were arrested in street demonstrations, hundreds of political activists, journalists and writers and artists have also been detained.

Khamenei's move came at the 44th anniversary of the Islamic Republic, as a move to rescue the image of the regime amid a grim economic crisis and mass public rejection of the political system he presides over.

Reports say the disciplinary committee of Bandar Abbas University of Medical Sciences has suspended at least five students for several terms.

Two other medical students have also been exiled and forced to transfer to other universities.

In recent weeks, several reports have been published regarding the expulsion of students for their participation in nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in September.

The Student Councils Union of the country announced Friday that 16 students and two professors have been suspended in the southeastern city of Zabol in connection with the recent nationwide protests.

According to the latest report by the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least 720 students were arrested during the protests.

In an interview with the National Public Radio in the US this week, Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian claimed no students or journalists were arrested during the protests.

So far, the exact number of suspended and expelled students have not been announced, but in addition to Bandar Abbas University, there have been similar cases of punishments at other universities.

Back in December, 12 students were expelled and 80 suspended in Bahonar University of Kerman in central Iran. Similar reports have been published about the universities of medical sciences in Kerman, Shiraz in the south, and Tabriz in the northwest.