Posted on 04/19/2005 1:53:54 PM PDT by F14 Pilot
LONDON, April 19 (IranMania) - Eight Iranian students have been handed suspended prison terms for insulting President Mohammad Khatami and acting against Iran's national security, according to a leading reformist student union member.
"Four students from Sistan-Baluchistan (in southeast Iran) received suspended prison terms of a year each," said Abdollah Momeni, head of the Office of Consolidating Unity (OCU), AFP reported.
"Another four students from Tabriz Sahand University (northwest Iran) received a collective suspended prison term of 99 months and are barred from studying for a year," said Momeni.
He did not give details on the charges.
"As of a month ago we have been witnessing additional pressure on universities, which creates a very heavy political climate before the presidential election" of June 17, he said.
An Iranian newspaper, meanwhile, reported that another OCU member, Saeed Habibi, had been arrested.
He was "summoned to court in Zanjan after his speech at the city's university (on December 7) and charged with disturbing public mind, acting against national security, and agitating for regime change," his wife, Parvaneh Vahid-Manesh, said in the reformist daily Shargh.
"I have not heard anything from him since his last trip to Zanjan" in central Iran, she added.
Iranian university students, who are at the forefront of political protests, played a key role in Khatami's election victories in 1997 and 2001, and also when reformists won parliamentary polls in 2000.
But they have become disillusioned and embittered by a lack of reforms in Iran amid stiff resistance from the conservative camp.
If this were the standard in America, I would have done a whole lot of time during Bubba's term of office.
Yes, just one of the outrageous things about life in an Islamic theocracy.. much worse than communist/totalitarian regimes in some aspects.. atleast, they treated women equally.
I would have done a small strech for misunderestimating Dubya's stategery. And I love the guy.
I wonder what exactly the speech said. Was it similar to Ward Churchill's rantings?
From what I hear they were going around telling people that his mother rides shotgun on the garbage truck
They should come to America, where they can insult Bush, Clinton or any other President all they want. Or better yet, maybe one of these days America will come to Iran..
Say something unflattering about the profit and see what happens under dhimitude...or sharia law...
Even worse be a muslim 15 yr old girl on trial for the crime of being raped by an older male family member..and insult the judge who blames you for being raped...
That is a hanging offense...and it was done recently in Iran.
I still say our Iraq exit strategy is to retreat through Iran! That'll show 'em!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.