IRAN. Iranian authorities have shut down for a week the Amir-Abad campus of Tehran University ahead of the anniversary of the July 9, 1999 student uprising. Students were ordered to vacate the campus by July 7 and to lodge elsewhere till July 14. Only students who agree to collaborate with Islamic militia will be allowed in to the campus during the period. They will be given special passes.
In 1999, the Amir-Abad campus was the center of the student unrest sparked after Islamic fundamentalist vigilantes had raided the student dormitories, killing at least one person. This year, the Amir-Abad area and other neighborhoods in Tehran have been witnessing sporadic protests since June 12. Over 4,000 demonstrators were reportedly arrested in Tehran and other cities of the country during this period.
According to the Student Movement Coordinating Committee for Democracy in Iran (SMCCDI), the Iranian regime proceeds with its plan to hold show trials of the arrested demonstrators.
The SMCCDI also reported that 36-year-old Bagher Parto arrested on June 16 in Shiraz has died under torture in custody of the intelligence department of the Pasdaran Corps. Opposition sources stated that he was tortured to extract information about fellow members of "Azarakhsh" (Thunder), an underground opposition group, and to force him to make false televised confessions of links with the Israeli and US intelligence services.
The SMCCDI expressed concern over the fate of influential scholars from Shiraz, Ghyessar Barani and the Ghahremani brothers arrested in connection with the demonstrations.
