Savage Attack on Student Dormitories
June 16, 2009
Dozens of Tehran University students were beaten and severely wounded, requiring hospitalization, following an attack by plain-clothed vigilantes and the state security forces on the university’s large dormitories. The attackers used bullets, chains, daggers, batons and clubs to beat the students. Residents of the Amir Abad neighborhood, where the student dormitories are located, have called for help in their telephone calls to the public.
The Tehran University students began their protests on Sunday night, chanting “death to the dictator” and condemning the electoral coup. With the entrance of plain-clothed vigilantes and state security forces into the dormitories, an asymmetric battle broke out at the residence halls. The state security forces’ first initial attempts at entering the university were halted by the students’ resistance. However, with the launch of the state security forces’ all-out attack on the dormitories, which included sound grenades, tear gas and shooting at all doors, the forces were able to penetrate the student dormitories.
Clashes at the Tehran University dormitories were under way as the cell phone networks were down in Tehran for the second time since the announcement of election results and students inside the university were unable to reach the outside. After cell phone networks went down for about an hour all over Tehran, state security forces entered the dormitories and gained control over the dormitories by ruthlessly firing at all doors and using tear gas. They then allowed plain-clothed vigilantes and forces affiliated with the Ansar Hezbollah militia to enter the dormitories. Ansar vigilantes are currently entering every single building and room to savagely beat the students with clubs, chains and daggers. Clashes are ongoing at the Tehran University dormitories. Meanwhile, fifteen students are in critical condition after being shot while state security forces were attempting to enter the dormitories. Among the injured students, one is in highly critical condition due to injuries to his face and neck. Also, two other students were shot in the face, one of whom is in danger of losing his eyes according to the medical students present on the scene. Other students were shot in the leg or other parts of the body, leaving deep wounds and scars. According to the students, the attacking forces were fully prepared, equipped with various kinds of hot and cold weapons, including batons, clubs, daggers, chains, sound grenades, tear gas, pepper spray and guns.
The students also report that the security forces are using a new kind of plastic bullets that leaves holes in the shot persons’ bodies. Clashes are ongoing at the Tehran University dormitories. Campus security forces and university administrators have left the premises and the students are left alone. At three a.m. last night, residents in the Amir Abad neighborhood were alerting news agencies that the injured students trapped inside the dormitories are in urgent need of medical support, lacking access not only to ambulances but also to basic first aid.
Source: Rooz Online
