On Sunday , July 30, the protesting unemployed workers of Traverton mine in Aq Darreh located in Tekab region in the eastern Azerbayjan faced the brutal attack of dozens of armed forces of the Islamic regime’s security forces. The protests of the workers together with some people of Aq Darreh village, started following the dismissal of some seasonal workers of Traverton mine on the pretext of inactivity in winter. From the beginning, the mine employer had promised the people that he would hire about 300 people from the village, and with this promise, the owners of the mine, who are some of IRGC authorities, occupied their agricultural lands. They were supposed to conclude a 12-month contract with the workers of this mine. But despite these agreements, the responsible officials did not fulfil their promises, and allocated the largest amount of recruitment to their own handpicked forces.
On the other hand, the low standard of working conditions of the mine and its harmful effects on the environment, especially the contamination of people’s drinking water with minerals, is a matter of protest of the workers and the people of this region.
With these conditions, the dismissal of a number of seasonal workers and the termination of their contracts and the violation of the most basic rights of the people by the owners of this mine fuelled the anger of the workers and the people of this village whose family members work in the mine and led to the July 30 gathering and protests.
The main owners of this mine “Hajli Abbas Nayyeri” and his brother “Majid Nayyeri” are two members of the IRGC and with this attrack they tried to push back the protests of the workers and the people by going to the village of Aq Darreh.
In their brutal attack on the July 30 and as a result of shooting directly at the workers and people of “Aq Darreh”, three people named Nasser Bahramian, Hojat Momenzadeh and Armin Nikzad were injured and more than 40 people were arrested.
After this attack, many young people of the village spent the night outside the village, worried about the renewed attack of the Islamic regime forces. But around 3am to 5am on Monday, July 31, more than a hundred police forces once again brutally attacked the village of Aq Darreh and by beating and injuring people, destroying their properties and breaking their cars, they tried to create fear. Another 50 workers and protesters were arrested in this attack. The names of 30 of them are as follows:
1- Abdullah Aftabi 2- Zikaria Yarahmadi 3- Farhad Anoushe 4- Khizr Bahramian 5- Payam Bahramian 6- Abdullah Khosravi 7- Kamel Khosravi 8- Khalil Aftabi 9- Khaled Momeni 10- Ali Momeni 11- Arif Momeni 12- Muzafar Parmodeh 13 Peyman Parmodeh 14- Mohammad Khosravi 15- Adel Khosravi 16- Mehran Khosravi 17- Ismail Mominizadeh 18- Ali Mominizadeh 19- Asghar Yarahamdi 20- Kamel Anoushe 21- Mahmoud Barfar 22- Ramin Timouri 23- Jalil Iranpour 24- Mansour Arjamandkhah 25- Ismail Aftabi 26- Ismail Timouri 27- Jamal Iranpour 28- Dariush Nigzad 29- Saman Permodeh 30- Mohammad
After these assaults, people did not remain silent and on Tuesday, August 1st, their families gathered in front of Takab police station and demanded the release of the arrested. The protests of the families of the detainees continue.
Free Them Now strongly condemns the criminal attack on the protesting workers and people in Aq Darreh and stresses theit immediate release of all those arrested.We must protest against this brutal attack on workers and people and condemn the Islamic regime.
August 2, 2023
Campaign To Free Jailed Workers In Iran (FTN)
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