Thursday, December 15, 2011

Defiance in the face of repression on Iran’s Student Day

By Drewery Dyke, Amnesty International’s Iran researcher, Dec 9, 2011

Majid Dorri has been serving a six-year sentence since 2010  © Empty Chair Campaign
Majid Dorri has been serving a six-year sentence since 2010 © Empty Chair Campaign

To mark Iran’s National Student Day on 7th December, a letter from imprisoned student Majid Dorri has been smuggled out of Behbehan Prison in southern Iran. In it, he says:
“16th of Azar [7 December] is a day when the university stood against oppression; it stood and gave martyrs; it stood and was dragged over the ground and through blood; but it did not leave, it stayed; it trembled but it did not surrender; it was weakened but did not bend.”

Student Day marks the killing of three students by police in 1953. On this day every year, Iranian students hold demonstrations and gatherings calling for reforms. They refuse to be silenced by the ever-mounting tide of repression.

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