Iran Election Stories From Friends and Family

From Iran today:

At a dinner party last night a friend heard the story of one student caught up in the protests at the University of Shiraz in the first few days after the election. When asked what he was doing after the elections, the student said that he was in the university library when it was suddenly surrounded by police, who started throwing rocks at the library. The rocks were so big that the students did not know if the police used catapults to throw the rocks or if indeed they were that strong – strong enough to throw such huge rocks. The police also fired tear gas towards the library. So the students went up to higher floors in the library hoping to get away from the effects of tear gas. The students were expecting the attack to blow over because there was a lot of activity in the streets, while this student was in the library just trying to study as were many others. They expected it to clear up so they could go home later. By 8 pm nothing had died down and in fact the police had entered the library to arrest the students who were studying. Some professors tried to intervene and asked the police by what authority they had entered the university. The police responded that if the professors had a problem with them, the police, they could file a complaint anywhere (like it would make any difference). The student was surprised that the people giving the orders were the Shakhsis (plain clothes people). Even high ranking security forces were taking orders from the plain clothes people.

The police said that they were going to arrest the male students, but that the female students could leave. However, as the women were leaving the police took their pictures, so most of the women chose not to go. Then the remaining students (80-100 of them) were hauled down to Khalili Detention Center. The student noticed that other busses were full of arrested students who were taken to other places as there was no room at Khalili. Once they got to Khalili the student noticed that, while most of the students went into the processing place, some of the students who had connections (partee) were released out back. The police took everyone’s pictures. Then they put all the men in one big detention room, where they were only able to stand shoulder to shoulder. The room had no air conditioning and only one tiny window. Everyone had been sweating all day and was stressed, so it stank. The room had one smelly bathroom for all of them. The police forced more people into the room as the night progressed until it was so full that they told everyone to just sit in place. The students spent the night in those conditions as they waited for the judge to show up the next morning.  They were separated from the deviants (criminals), but they could communicate with them. The students kept their spirits up by exchanging insults with the criminals and by joking all night. For the most part they were awake. The worst part, he said, was not knowing if anyone knew where they were and what was going to happen to them the next day.

Meanwhile, parents had heard about this incident and had shown up at the police station to get news of their children. They were told to come back in the morning. The parents were asked if they had connections. If they did, the students were let out. If they did not, the parents were told to go home. The parents asked the police if their children were alright and in good condition. The parents were assured that the students were being well taken care of – NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The next day, the guards randomly chose one of the students to stand up and sit down repeatedly until he got nauseous and collapsed, as random punishment for the chatter of the night before. Then the judge arrived. He was under the impression that most of these people were demonstrators from the streets and that only a few were students. He was surprised to find out they were all students and had been taken from the library. Nevertheless, he asked them all about their political beliefs. He read their charges, which included destruction of public property and disturbing the peace, among others. It should be noted that the property that was destroyed, was destroyed by the police, although it is possible that some chairs were broken by the students to use the legs as weapons to defend themselves with.

In any case, the students all loudly declared their loyalty to the Supreme Leader and signed oaths of loyalty (ta’ahod) and were released. The parents were also forced to sign oaths that they would keep their children in check in the future. Everyone’s impression was that this was a pre-emptive strike to intimidate students from future activism as these students had done nothing to warrant such treatment in the first place. The experience was a great bonding experience for the students and, while it frightened them tremendously, it also emboldened them and angered them at the same time. No one knows what the long term effects of these actions will be on the students’ mentality.