Student group issues statement on arrests, criticizes
Revolution Court
August 7, 1999, (Hamshahri , BBC Worldwide Monitoring) -- Following
the publication of reports about the arrest of a number of students in
Tehran and provincial cities who are either members of or are affiliated
to the student organization the Office for Fostering Unity, the organization
has issued a statement saying that the way the arrests were made and the
interrogations carried out does not reveal a serious determination to confront
people who promote violence.
The statement issued by the Office for Fostering Unity, a copy of which
was sent to `Hamshahri' newspaper, says in part:
The Information Ministry's arrest of members of illegal groups and the
obtaining of confessions from them was done in order to confront those
who staged street riots.
However, there has still been no news suggesting that those who attacked
the university dormitory, including members of the pressure groups, have
been identified and arrested. Nevertheless, we have seen that a number
of members of Islamic associations of students have been summoned, interrogated
and arrested.
Indeed, a member of the central council of the Office for Fostering
Unity was summoned as a witness, but he was then arrested and released
on bail. We believe that the action taken by the Revolution Court has
turned things upside down.
Instead of carrying out judicial, legal and security investigations
into the bitter events which took place on 18th Tir [9th July], it has
taken advantage of those events to further its short-term interests and
eliminate reformist student groups.
We believe that such actions are against the advice given by senior
state officials, including his eminence the leader [Khamene'i] and the
honourable president [Khatami].
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