Iranian Protesters Face Crackdown, Violence
by John Little on 18/12/2006The students who staged last week’s protest in Iran are paying the price. There’s an excellent piece in The Guardian with the details:
The 21-year-old student holding the “fascist president” banner was among those threatened with expulsion. He is said to be in grave danger after foreign news outlets, including the Guardian, published a picture of his gesture. Friends say he went into hiding after being confronted by two vigilantes.
“They said they would pull his father out of the grave [an ancient Persian threat],” said one student. “He is in real danger. Vigilantes have been standing at the dormitory doors asking for him.”
Students now fear an even fiercer crackdown. “We believe [the authorities] will react much worse than before,” said Armin Salmasi, 26, a leading activist. “We are already under constant surveillance. The student movement in Iran is going to be driven underground – just like it was before the revolution.”
The story includes additional background on the protest – including the part not caught on video:
Protesters later surrounded the president’s car, prompting a security guard to fire a stun grenade to warn them off. Four cars in the presidential convoy collided in their haste to leave. Mr Ahmadinejad’s staff later insisted he had remained calm and ordered that the students should go unpunished. But some of those present say he accused them of being paid United States agents who would be confronted.
…”We were chanting, ‘Get lost Ahmadinejad!’ and ‘Ahmadinejad – element of discrimination and corruption.’ You could see from his face that he was really shocked. He wasn’t flashing his usual smile, and at one stage I thought he was going to cry. He told his supporters to respond with a religious chant hailing Ahmadinejad, but he was so shaken he was actually chanting it himself.”
Another student said: “He was trying to keep control of himself, but you could see he was angry and upset.”
Related:
Regime Change Iran
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