Iran Arrests Islamic Hard-liners Who Beat Students
VOA News
14 Jun 2003, 17:32 UTC
Iranian authorities say they have arrested Islamic hardliners who are blamed for attacks against pro-democracy demonstrators.
A statement on Iranian television said police arrested what were called "thugs and ruffians" who attacked people and public places in violence late Friday and early Saturday.
Among those arrested was Sa'id Asgar, a militant leader who two years ago shot and seriously wounded a top adviser to Iran's reformist president, Mohammad Khatami. Iranian news reports said Sa'id Asgar and several associates were charged with beating university students in their dormitory rooms.
Student leaders say several people were seriously injured in the attacks. Western journalists reported militants, armed with clubs, chains, and rifles, also set up checkpoints and rode motorcycles to swoop down on crowds of young people to beat them.
The violence by pro-government Islamic hardliners came on the fourth night of pro-democracy protests led by students who say that Iran's religious leaders are blocking political reform. Iranian officials have blamed the United States for stirring up the protests. And Iran's media charged that foreign news reports are exaggerating the unrest.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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