Birjand University Students Activists Arrested Again

Four Birjand University student activists, Ali Sepandar, Behzad Parvin, Amin Ostadi, and Milad Garajian were arrested again last week for the second time since the Iranian elections. The students are members of the Central and General Councils of Islamic Association of Birjand University. They have been transferred to an unknown detention center in the City of Birjand in Eastern Iran. A student activist told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that the four students were initially arrested last June in Mashhad and Birjand and transferred to the Ministry of Information’s detention center in Birjand. Their recent arrests took place while their cases are under review in courts and they have refrained from engaging in any political activities since last August. Their families and friends are unaware of reasons for their arrests or their present conditions. In June, the four members of the Birjand University Islamic Association spent close to a month at the Birjand Ministry of Information’s detention center. All four had been student campaigners with Mehdi Karroubi’s presidential elections campaign in Mashad and Birjand. Following the arrests of Ali Sepandar, Behzad Parvin, Amin Ostadi, and Milad Garajian, Birjand University students have issued statements demanding the release of their classmates, stating that if their detention continues, they will hold a sit-in protest on Birjand University’s campus.