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Iran students seek punishment over police raid

TEHRAN: Students injured in a police raid on the Tehran University dormitory complex last summer asked on Saturday for punishment of the culprits and compensation for their damaged property.

The students were testifying on the second day of a trial of former Tehran police chief Brigadier-General Farhad Nazari, seven other officers and 12 conscripts accused of brutality in a series of attacks on the main hostel on the night of July 8-9.

"I cannot give up my rights. I demand a thorough investigation of the case and punishment of the culprits," one of the plaintiffs, Ali-Reza Shabani, told the military court.

He said he had been shot at by a plainclothes attacker and had his nose broken.

Another student, Mohsen Mir-Shafie, said he had been badly injured but could not provide any witnesses because of police "harassment".

"The security forces took away many students immediately after the attack. They cannot provide any evidence," he said.

But the judge said he would only hear of charges backed up with clear evidence from medical examiners or other reliable sources.

The students' lawyer, Mohsen Rohami, appealed to the judge to accept reports from hospitals where injured students were admitted immediately after the attack. Students are also seeking damages for property ransacked in the assault.

The case marked a rare prosecution in open court of members of the powerful security forces, who have often been seen as a law unto themselves.

But critics, including many newly elected members of parliament, say the real culprits were members of the hardline "pressure groups" who coordinated and led the assault. So far, only uniformed police personnel have been charged.

At least one person was killed and more than 200 students injured in the initial attacks by police and vigilantes on a peaceful pro-democracy rally.

The raid touched off six days of demonstrations that escalated into rioting in central Tehran.The trial resumes on Tuesday.-Reuters