‎

Though the three detained Amir Kabir University students have repeatedly denied ‎publishing material deemed insulting to Islam, and no evidence has been provided in ‎support of the charges, the judiciary sentenced the three students to a total of seven and a ‎half years in prison. ‎

Meanwhile, an Amir Kabir student news bulletin reported that the Amir Kabir University ‎president, who is accused by students of cooperating with the fabricators, is one of the ‎plaintiff’s in this case. In a related report, a conservative Majlis deputy asked the ‎judiciary to confront students who protested President Ahmadinejad’s visit to Tehran ‎University last week, labeling them as “American mercenaries.” ‎

According to the attorney representing the three students, the defendants have repeatedly ‎denied the charges. Several other students who were also arrested in relation to this case ‎and were later released have filed a complaint against members of Amir Kabir ‎University’s Basij organization for fabricating the insulting material. ‎

Majid Tavakkoli, Ehsan Mansouri and Ahmad Ghassaban have been sentenced to three ‎years, two years, and two and a half years in prison, respectively. There is no evidence in ‎this case other than confessions extracted from the student under torture at the infamous ‎Ward 209 in Evin Prison. ‎

In a letter addressed to the head of judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi, the families of the ‎three students revealed several instances of physical and psychological torture imposed ‎on their sons while in custody of the ministry of intelligence in Ward 209. ‎

Several weeks ago, in a letter to Avaei, the head of Tehran’s judiciary, the students ‎warned that they would pursue their allegations through alternative means if their ‎treatment is not improved.‎