More Than Five Thousand People Have Been Arrested in the Recent Eight Months

(As Of January 2010)

Almost eight months have passed since the 10th presidential election in Iran and more than 5,000 of the protestors to the results of the election and the events that have followed, have been arrested.  These are the figures that have been released by the officials of Iran while based on the reports from various human rights organizations and independent media, the number of arrests are more than what has officially been reported.

Alireza Jamshidi, Speaker of the Judicial Branch on August 11th stated that the number of arrests from the events post the Iranian election is 4,000 people and he added that more than 3,700 individuals were released during the first week.

On September 18, 2009, Public Order Forces also reported that 35 individuals were arrested at the protest on “Ghods Day”.  Based on the officials on November 4th, 109 individuals were arrested on “Student Day”.  Public Order Officials stated that 47 of them were released after few days.

On June 23rd, Iranian Police reported that 40 other people that took part in the demonstrations of Aashura (an Islamic holy day), have been identified and arrested. Most of the figures that have been reported are related to the arrest of protestors that gathered or took part in demonstrations in Tehran, and up to now little news has been officially published in regards to the arrest of the public protestors in other cities.  However, civic activists and human rights organizations have reported that protestors in other cities have also been arrested.

A large group of detainees are protesting residents that are not members of any group or organization and their names have not been released to the media.

Since June 12, 2009 till January 21, 2010, names of 590 of the detainees have been mentioned in official media and newspapers of Iran, as well as websites related to reformists, international media and reports published by human rights organizations.

Most of these individuals are civic activists, political activists, journalist or students.  Seldom, one can locate a resident’s name in the list that was solely arrested for attending the demonstrations.

In addition to summons, interrogation practices and arrests, some have been sentenced to death penalty, two (2) have been executed while according to Iranian officials in the next few days nine (9) others will also be executed.

Arrest of 138 Female Activists in Eight Months

During the past 8 months, at least 138 female civic activists, political activists, journalist or students have been arrested.

In addition, at each of the street protests, many female protestors have been arrested.

There are both female and male residents that their names have neither been published by the officials nor their families have agreed to make their names public due to treats that they have received from the security forces.

The only official figures related to the arrests, is based on a report from Tehran Police that indicated 78 females were arrested as such: 39 on December 7th at the gathering for “Student Day”, 19 on November 4th in Tehran and 20 of the Mourning Mothers on June 27th.

However, women have had a vibrant and large presence in the demonstrations of the past eight (8) months and great numbers of them were arrested.

More than 500 Students are in Prison

Among the list of detainees that has been published, the names of at least 160 students are listed.

The number of arrested students is far more than the names that have been released.  According to Amir Kabir Newsletter, just on December 30th and 31st of 2009, 240 students were arrested in Mash-had.  On December 31st, students were arrested in other parts of the country as well: 20 students in University of Science and Industry in Tehran, 11 students in Razi University of Kermanshah, 8 students in Amir Kabir University and close to 10 students in other universities.  A total of close to 300 students are reported.

During the first days post election, a large number of students were arrested at Tehran University Dormitory.

On December 7th in observation of “Student Day”, according to the police, in Tehran more than 240 were arrested that a substantial number of them were students and 86 of them were released on December 9th.  Some of the widely known student activists such as Ahmad Zeyd-Abadi and Abdullah Momeni have received very long prison time from the court.

Iran is the Largest Prison for Journalists

After June 12th election, at least 65 journalists have been arrested in Iran and Reports Without Borders indicates that currently 42 journalists and bloggers are detained and therefore Iran is considered as the largest prison for journalists.

In addition to well known journalists, some of photo journalists and bloggers are among the list of detainees that has been released.  Some of the Iranian journalists have seeked asylum in the neighboring countries after the recent events in Iran.

The table below includes the name of 589 of the detainees of the aftermath of the presidential election until January 21, 2010.  This a static list and will be continuously updated as the information becomes available.