Sorena Keyani

‎“Mr. Shariati! The niversity is not a garrison; it is my house!” says a placard held by an ‎Allameh University student. Sadreddin Shariati is the University’s president. The ‎student holding the placard is sitting in front of the Department of Literature and Foreign ‎Languages at the Allameh University. He is one of the 31 students that have been ‎suspended by the University for political activism. Many student activists are not just ‎suspended – they are ordered by campus security to not enter the campus at all. ‎

These suspended students are not allowed to even use the University’s library. Still, they ‎have decided to stage a sit-in, only a day after hundreds of students protested President ‎Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to the Tehran University. Another placard reads, “For ‎what crime have we been suspended?”‎

One of the suspended students and a central council member of the Allameh University’s ‎Islamic Student Association, Ali Reza Mousavi, tells Rooz, “They are legally not allowed ‎to suspend students for activism.” Mousavi, who has been suspended for 2 semesters, ‎adds, “Their behavior was illegal from the very beginning. Their suspension verdict is ‎illegal, but things are actually worse when it comes to barring us from entering the ‎university campus, because the law does not give any university the right to bar students ‎from entering the campus.” ‎

Previously, Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi and attorney Mohammad Ali Dadkhah had ‎confirmed the illegality of the Allameh University’s decision. ‎

Another suspended student, Soleiman Mohammadi, tells Rooz, “Unfortunately, our ‎protests have had no effect and University officials continue to violate the law.”‎

Mohammadi, who is suspended for three semesters, adds, “We will not shy away from ‎taking any peaceful and lawful measure to pursue our rights.” ‎

A third suspended student, Asal Akhavan, believes that she was suspended because of her ‎outspokenness and critical views: “Everyone has the right to voice their opinion.” ‎

Amir Hossein Iraji, who is also a central council member of the Islamic Student ‎Association, believes that the verdicts are an attempt to “turn students into obedient and ‎passive creatures.” ‎

While all suspended students have appealed the University’s decision, student Sadegh ‎Shojayee argues, “Unfortunately, the verdicts of the appellate committee are just as ‎unjust and illegal as the initial verdicts.” ‎

According to Sadegh Shojayee, the appellate committee has in the past upheld the initial ‎decision to suspend activist students. The appellate committee has ruled as follows: ‎‎“Your initial sentencing is unanimously upheld due to your lack of initiative in accepting ‎guilt and reforming your behavior.”‎

Shojayee adds, “This shows that the Allameh University officials view the appeals ‎process not as a legal request but a chance to extract admissions of guilt and request ‎forgiveness. Moreover, the university was closed over the summer. How did University ‎officials observe that we had not changed our ways?”‎