Public Statement, Amnesty International

The three students of Amir Kabir University in Tehran, Ahmad Qasaban, Majid Tavakkoli and Ehsan Mansouri were released on 13 August 2008. It is not clear whether Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei had pardoned them or whether they were conditionally released on 13 August 2008.

Iranian Students Protest Jail Sentences For Classmates
October 22, 2007 - photo: Amir Kabir University of Technology News (autnews.com)

The three students were arrested following the publication on 30 April 2007 of student publications at Amir Kabir University, carrying articles which university officials deemed insulting to Islam. Ahmad Qasaban, the managing editor of a publication known as Sahar, was arrested on 3 May 2007. Majid Tavakkoli, editor-in-chief of the Khat-e Sefer publication, was summoned to a Revolutionary Court on 8 May 2007 and was detained by judicial officials that afternoon. Ehsan Mansouri, the secretary of political affairs of the Islamic Student Association (ISA), an activist body at Amir Kabir University, was arrested at his home on 22 May 2007. The three students denied any involvement in the publication of the articles, and were allegedly tortured in an attempt to extract confessions.

On 15 April 2008, they were sentenced to prison terms of between 22 and 30 months, by Branch 44 of the Appeal Court in Tehran. Ehsan Mansouri was sentenced to 22 months' imprisonment, Ahmad Qasaban to 26 months and Majid Tavakkoli to 30 months.

According to the official Iranian official government news agency IRNA website, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei had pardoned them. However, on 14 August 2008, Ehsan Mansouri's father told the news agency Agence France Presse: "It is a conditional release but the case has been closed and they will be no longer brought to court on these charges," adding that the students would now be able to resume their studies.

Many thanks to all who sent appeals. No further action is requested from the UA network.

... Payvand News - 08/22/08 ...

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