Posted on 11/27/2002 4:18:43 PM PST by GeneD
Filed at 7:04 p.m. ET
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Four student leaders who were arrested for organizing protests over a death sentence against a prominent university professor were released Wednesday but still face charges of endangering state security.
Saeed Razavi, Abdollah Momeini, Mehdi Aminizadeh and Akbar Atri were ordered to appear Saturday before the hard-line Tehran Revolutionary Court for further questioning, Atri's brother, Morteza, told The Associated Press.
In Washington, asked about the arrests in Iran and a ban on demonstrations, State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said the United States stands the quest by many Iranians ``for freedom, for civil liberties, for prosperity, for judicial due process and the rule of law.''
Reeker said the United States remains concerned about the death sentence still standing against Hashem Aghajari and the recent arrests of other activists.
When Iranians try to exercise their rights to speak out, he said, ``they are met with violence, with arrests and with death sentences.''
The four were arrested Tuesday by plainclothes security agents. They were blindfolded and didn't know where they were held, Atri said.
Tehran Deputy Governor Ebrahim Rezaei Babadi criticized the arrests as ``contrary to the country's interests'' and called on students to remain calm.
The four have been charged with ``insulting Islamic sanctities'' and ``endangering state security'' for leading demonstrations against the death sentence imposed on Aghajari, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
The death sentence against the university professor for questioning hard-line rule has drawn widespread protests from parliament, university students and the public.
The professor has until Dec. 2 to file an appeal, but his lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht, has said that Aghajari refuses to do so.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters, has ordered the judiciary to reconsider the verdict.
Aghajari's case highlights the power struggle between reformists supporting President Mohammad Khatami's program of social and political freedoms and hard-liners who control unelected institutions, including the police and judiciary.
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