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Watchdog Denounces Iran’s ‘Harsh’ Treatment Of Jailed University Students

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Amnesty International says two Iranian university students detained without trial for more than 1 1/2 years are at risk of being convicted in a “grossly unfair” trial on charges they deny.

Ali Younesi, 21, and Amirhossein Moradi, 22, are prisoners of conscience who have been “arbitrarily” kept in custody since April 2020, the London-based group said on November 22.

It said Younesi and Moradi are being kept in Tehran’s Evin prison, where they have been held in solitary confinement for two months “in harsh conditions to extract forced ‘confessions.’”

Younesi has told his family he had been denied adequate health care for injuries to his left eye sustained during beatings by Intelligence Ministry agents and that lights in his cell were turned on 24 hours a day, according to Amnesty International.

It said Moradi has reported being beaten harshly during his arrest.

During a hearing before Tehran’s Revolutionary Court in July, the two were accused of “corruption on earth,” which carries the death penalty, among other “spurious” charges, Amnesty International said.

The human rights watchdog said the authorities have accused Younesi and Moradi of ties to “counterrevolutionary” groups and claimed to have found “explosive devices” in their possession.

Both university students have denied the accusations.