Students urge university president to help release their peers

Sharif University

Two thousand students of Sharif University have written a letter to Saeed Sohrabpour, President of Sharif University, urging him to demand the release of their peers, Mehdi Kelari, Kohyar Godarzi and Tara Sepehrifar.

The students criticize the “silence and diplomacy” of university officials in the matter saying: “Rather than reacting against the recent events, we have witnessed a complete surrender to outside institutions on behalf of the University which has led to disciplinary sentences being issued by University officials against the students.”

Kohyar Godarzi is an aeronautics student who has been arrested since end of December 2009. Tara Sepehrifar is a chemical engineering student who has been detained since February 10.

She is also secretary-general of the university’s Islamic Association and according to the letter, she played “a significant role in calming the agitated atmosphere of the university in the post-election events.”

Mehdi Kelari is another chemical engineering student and he has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

The students write: "On the first day when we entered the university, we believed that we could take advantage of this sacred place in order to step toward the prosperity and freedom of our beloved Iran. But the recent events have proved that reality is far from those ideals.”

In continuation, the signatories express their support for the path taken by their imprisoned peers and maintain that reports about their condition in captivity are very disturbing.

The students evoke the image of the president of the university as a father to all the students and appeal to his responsibility to protest against the harsh treatment of his students, which according to the letter, are akin to his children.