iranelection

United4Iran recently published an interview with the roommate of student activist, Majid Tavakoli, who is currently imprisoned in Iran. Here is what his friend had to say about the speech Majid gave in December of 2009 that led to his arrest:

I, and other close friends, tried to convince him to revise his decision but he was persistent. He reasoned that if we retreat [from] our basic rights, in holding peaceful protests inside campuses, we [would] have to retreat [from] the worst level of dictatorship. He was reasoning that as a prominent student leader, his speech would give the courage to other students to stand for their rights. He used to say: “Freedom is not free.”