In Defence of Marxism

Iranian regime claims Kurdish student hanged himself!

A spokesman for the Iranian regime’s judiciary has claimed that Ebrahim Lotf-Allahi, a Kurdish student arrested in Sanandaj on 6 January, had hanged himself in his cell.

Ebrahim Lotf-Allahi, a fourth year law student at the Payam Noor University in Sanandaj, Iranian Kurdistan, was taken into custody by intelligence officers after leaving a university examination hall. Nine days later his family were told that he had died.

At the time Sanandaj’s intelligence authorities told Lotf-Allahi’s family that Ebrahim had committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell. The judiciary has now officially announced this to the press. But Lotfollahi’s family do not accept that their son has committed suicide while under arrest. They have asked the Sanandaj prosecutor’s office to issue an order that his body be exhumed, the cause of death determined and that those responsible be punished.

Ebrahim was buried at night by intelligence officers: without his family’s knowledge or access to the body. Later on cemetery officials showed them the location of their son’s grave. The family’s lawyer has said that there is no precedent in Sanandaj for the body of someone who has died in prison to not be given over to the family. He also added that if Ebrahim Lotf-Allahi really had committed suicide, then by turning over the body to the coroner’s office, the cause death could have been establish and his family convinced about the reason for their loss.

A judiciary spokesman has said that Ebrahim Lotf-Allahi’s death is under investigation but that there would have to be a court order before the body can be exhumed.

Many human rights organisations have expressed concern about Ebrahim’s death and have asked the Iranian government to investigate. It is clear to everyone in Iran, however, that this is yet another crime committed by this reactionary regime in its 29-year reign of terror. Even if the state murder of Ebrahim Lotf-Allahi can be pinned to a single interrogator exceeding his authority, the ultimate responsibility lies with this blood-soaked and barbarous form of bourgeois dictatorship.

Iranian regime tortures arrested students!

According to various student sources it has now been confirmed that at least three students have been tortured while in custody:

-Behrooz Karimizadeh’s forearm was cut so badly that he had to be transferred to hospital for medical treatment.
- Peyman Piran’s hand and shoulder were broken.
- Mehdi Allahyari was beaten so viciously by his interrogators that the signs were obvious to see when his family were visiting him. Some of the students who have now been released have also said that they could hear Mehdi being beaten up even though their own cells were quite a distance from the interrogation room!

Yet, at the same time, according to reports received from the families of jailed students, Nasim Soltan-begi was released on 26 January after a bail of 500,000 rials ($54,000) was paid. She has now returned to her family and is said to be in high spirits. Similarly, the Prosecutor’s Office also set a 500,000 rials ($54,000) bail for Keyvan Amir-alyasi and his family began proceedings on 28 January to release him and hope that this can be done by the end of the week.

While we welcome the release of those who have now left prison we believe that they should never have been arrested or mistreated - and that their release should be unconditional. We also believe that by killing a Kurdish student, torturing at least three others, and releasing some others, this regime is trying to sow the seeds of uncertainty, doubt and division among the student activists and leaders. This may be their ‘clever’ plan but it is bound to fail.

It is the economic, social and political crisis of this regime - and the rotten capitalist system it upholds - that compel students, workers, women, ethnic minorities and the Iranian masses in general, to protest against the injustices, the abuses, the corruption, and above all, the rampant exploitation and oppression, that dominate their daily lives. This is not the end of our struggle - it is the beginning of the regime’s end!

Militaant, journal of revolutionary socialist youth in Iran.