Ehsan Faridi, a twenty-two-year-old student of Manufacturing Engineering at the Technical Faculty of the University of Tabriz — who has been sentenced to death on charges of “waging war against God” and “corruption on earth” — called on students to stand firm and resist in a statement issued from Tabriz Central Prison on the occasion of Student Day. He emphasized that freedom arises only from the inner will and conviction of Iran’s young generation, not from foreign interference or external imposition.
Imprisoned Students Iranian Students: Break The Silence, Rise For Freedom
In this statement, which was released today, December 7, coinciding with Student Day, Faridi honored the memory of the victims of December 7, 1953 — the day three students were killed by security forces under the monarchy during protests at the University of Tehran — and wrote:
“In the name of justice and freedom. On the occasion of December 7, Student Day — the day when, following the disgraceful coup of August 19, 1953, the booted soldiers of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi suppressed and killed students to please their masters and extinguish the last glimmer of hope for freedom — I send greetings to all the brave students and professors of my homeland; those who, under the heavy shadow of repression and injustice, chose to raise their voices and kept the torch of awareness burning.”
Criticizing what he called the “ominous triangle of reaction, despotism, and colonialism,” which he said usurps the people’s rights through deceptive slogans, he added: “But we know well that freedom cannot be imposed from outside; it will arise only from the faith and will of these very students and the people of our land.”
Iran’s Student Movement Cannot Be Silenced: Voices Rise Again on Student Day
Addressing his peers, Faridi stressed: “Our measure is neither titles nor degrees; only our steadfastness will show how we emerge from this test. You are the living hope of this land. You will build Iran’s future; you who believe in freedom, who do not bargain away the truth, and who in the hardest moments choose to stand rather than surrender to forgetfulness or compromise.”
This imprisoned student, whose death sentence has been upheld by the regime’s Supreme Court, concluded his statement by writing:
“If we have managed to endure the bitter days of prison, it has been because of you; because of your solidarity… Stay strong, for tomorrow’s Iran will not be born from decrees and walls, but from your belief in human dignity. You will write the future; you who, even in captivity, are freer than those who have imprisoned the freedom of the people.”
