Student Maziar Yazdanpanah begins his 6-month prison sentence

Maziar Yazdanpanah is a student at Mazandaran University who was arrested along with other students on June 16, 2009 after the disputed presidential elections. Security forces transferred Maziar to solitary confinement in the Sari Intelligence detention center where he was held for one month. He was also suspended from school for one term.

According to Human Rights House of Iran, Branch 101 of the Babolsar Revolutionary Court handed Maziar Yazdanpanah a 6-month suspended prison sentence and 14 lashes. But the appellate court has reversed the suspended verdict, requiring the student to serve the prison time.

Even though the verdict was issued 2 years ago, last week Maziar Yazdanpanah and several other students at Mazandaran University were informed that their suspended prison sentences were reversed, requiring them to serve their sentences. After a November gathering of students at the university, Maziar Yasdanpanah was barred from returning to his dormitory without being given any written warning.

In the past 2 years, despite scores of Mazandaran University students arrested or expelled from school, the students have continued to organize events and gatherings. The last event was held on November 17, 2011, when hundreds of students gathered to protest economic and labor conditions.