FURTHER INFORMATION: IRANIAN STUDENT ACTIVIST PARDONED
Prisoner of conscience Mohammad Pour Abdollah was released from Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, on 27 August 2011 where he had been serving a three-year sentence. He was released following a pardon by the Supreme Leader.
Mohammad Pour Abdollah, a Tehran University student linked to the left-wing Iranian students’ organization Students for Freedom and Equality (Daneshjouyan-e Azadi Khah va Beraber Talab), was released from Ghezel Hesar Prison on 27 August 2011. He was released along with around 100 other prisoners pardoned by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, ahead of the Eid al-Fitr celebrations marking the end of the Islamic month of Ramadan.
Mohammad Pour Abdollah was arrested at his house in Tehran on 12 February 2009. Held for over one month in solitary confinement at Evin Prison, he was transferred on 18 March 2009 to Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, west of Tehran. His six-year prison term, on charges of “gathering and colluding with the aim of harming national security, propaganda against the system and membership of groups opposed to the system”, was reduced to three years on appeal.
Students for Freedom and Equality is a left-wing student organization that was established around 2006 with objectives including the establishment of a nationwide students’ network and an end to a military presence in Iranian universities. It was involved in organizing peaceful demonstrations in December 2007, following which around 70 people were arrested, the majority of whom were members of Students for Freedom and Equality.
No further action is required. Many thanks to all those who sent appeals.
This is the third update of UA 60/09. Further information:http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/028/2009/en andhttp://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/108/2009/en
Name: Mohammad Pour Abdollah
Gender m/f: M
Further information on UA: 60/09 Index: MDE 13/085/2011 Issue Date: 27 September 2011