Judiciary Arrests Students and Political Activists
•After the New Year holidays, the wave of summons, arrests and convictions of student and political activists continued. The Hamedan Islamic revolutionary court sentenced Hamedan University's physics student Mohammad Majdzadeh-Qaemi to three years in jail for his role in last June's pro-democracy demonstrations. The Urumieh revolutionary court summoned Hadi Soudbar, member of the central council of Urumieh university's Islamic student council. Next week, the Tabriz Islamic revolutionary court will try independent journalist Ensafali Hedayat, who was arrested three months ago, a day after he returned from Berlin where he attended the first convention of the coalition of the secular republicans E'ttehad-e Jumhurikhahan-e Iran. Student activist Peyman Piran was sentenced to ten years in jail for his work on the student journal Tajadod. He is being held in a cellblock for common criminals at the Qasr prison in Tehran. Independent political activist Arzhang Davoodi, who had been beaten badly during his 100 days in solitary confinement at a prison run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp, needs surgery for his broken arm, bleeding of eyes and broken teeth. Masoumeh Shafii, wife of jailed journalist Akbar Ganji told the state-run “students” news agency ISNA that her husband, who suffers from asthma, has been given only 45 days of furlough during his four-year in jail. Homa Zarafshan, wife of jailed lawyer Naser Zarafshan, said the judiciary refused to release her husband, who has spend more than one-third of his five-year jail term. Shahla Behnudi, wife of jailed Tehran teacher's college history professor Hashem Aghajari, said her husband's situation has not changed. Aghajari has been kept in jail after a branch of the Islamic supreme court overturned his death sentence for insulting ruling clerics in a speech in June 2002 in Hamedan, during which he criticized clerical rule and the Shiite principle of religious emulation. The wives of nationalist-religious activists Hoda Saber and Taqi Rahmani said their husbands did not receive furloughs to spend the New Year holidays with their families. Father of jailed student Ahmad Batebi said his son received a 12-hour furlough to attend university exams. Jailed pollster Abbas Abdi's lawyer said his client returned to the Evin prison after a four-day New Year furlough. (Farin Asemi)
http://www.radiofarda.com/transcripts/topstory/2004/04/20040410_1230_0750_1052_EN.asp