Students: Iran Crackdown Continues
Thursday, July 22, 1999
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- An Iranian pro-democracy student
group accused authorities today of continuing arrests, beatings and forced
confessions, despite official statements that political detentions had
stopped.
The Council of Student Protesters, which speaks for pro-democracy demonstrators
who earlier this month staged six days of protests, said in a statement
that ``a wave of arrests'' had begun after a crackdown on the demonstrations.
``Some people have been arrested merely for being students. After being
interrogated for hours, they were beaten and forced to sign confessions
blindfolded,'' the group said in the statement published in the Hamshahri
daily, seen on the Internet in Dubai.
The group added that seven of its own members and students belonging
to other university organizations were missing and believed held by security
forces.
Iran's Intelligence Ministry said earlier this week that students arrested
in the unrest who were not identified as members of subversive groups had
all been released. Authorities said 750 of the 1,200 people arrested have
been released.
Also today, Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari accused what
he described as Iran's enemies of trying to undermine the government of
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami.
``We should not put pressure on the people and limit their legal freedoms
under the pretext of maintaining security in the country,'' said Lari,
a moderate cleric aligned with Khatami.
``The government is determined to strongly proceed with its social
plans,'' Lari was quoted as saying by the Islamic Republic News Agency.
At least three people were killed in the weeklong violence that began
July 9 with police and hard-line vigilantes storming a Tehran University
dormitory after a peaceful rally against hard-liners in the Islamic government.
It led to demonstrations and clashes with the police as the protests spread
to eight other major cities.
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