To all workers unions and human rights organisations:
Esmaeil Bakhshi, the tortured worker’s leader in Iran urgently needs your support!
On April 28, Esmail Bakhshi and Amir Amirgholi from Sheiban Prison and Sepideh Ghaliyan from Sepidar prison in Ahvas, Khuzestan province, were transferred to Evin Prison in Tehran. Their case were referred to Branch 7 of the Prosecutor’s Office of Evin and they were interrogated in that branch in absence of their lawyers.
Esmaeil Bakhshi was released from prison on 12 December 2019, after spending 25 days in custody for his role in the Suger Cane workers strike. After his release he published an open letter and challenged Mahmoud Alavi, the head of the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic, to a televised debate over the torture he had undergone.
Sepideh Gholiyan, the student activist who was arrested along with Bakhshi, supported the claims and publicly spoke out about the tortures she too had been subjected to.
After the claims of torture, the Islamic regime of Iran broadcast a reportage called “Burnt Plot” in which the activists were accused of “action against national security”, etc. Following the broadcast of the reportage, Esmaeil Bakhshi and Sepideh Gholiyan, who had called for public hearing of their claims, were arrested again. In connection with the same case, Amir AmirGholi and two other members of the GAM’s Journal (a publication that reports on workers’ struggle in Iran) were arrested in January.
According to reports, Bakhshi and Gholiyan were under torture so they would take back their claims of being tortured in custody.
Islamic Republic of Iran arrested and tortured a worker who demanded some legitimate and basic rights such as getting paid on time for work and having job security and demanding the right to livelihood for workers, and now the regime wants to silence him by torture, imprisonment, threats and pressure.
Esmaeil Bakhshi has a special place in the hearts of the people of Iran. With his defence of freedom, equality and council-based governance as the only solution to the current system of corruption, embezzlement and rip-off by the political and economic elite, he has brought hope to many. He is in prison for these brilliant struggles.
The Campaign to Free Jailed Workers in Iran (Free Them Now) calls on all workers’ and human rights organisations around the world to take urgent actions in support of Esmaeil Bakhshi and Sepideh Gholiyan. We request that you put pressure on the Islamic Republic, demanding the immediate and unconditional release of these activists and all political prisoners, and an end to this system of torture in prisons and persecution of justice-seeking people.
Campaign to Free Jailed Workers In Iran (Free Them Now)
Shahla.daneshfar2@gmail.com
12 May 2019