All teachers and political prisoners must be freed.
Today, 2nd February 2025 Rasoul Bodaghi, a member of the board of the Islamshahr Teachers’ Trade Association, former inspector of the Tehran Teachers’ Trade Association, and a militant imprisoned teacher, has been released after years in prison. We congratulate Rasoul Bodaghi, his family, the Coordinating Council, and all the teachers and people who stood by his family over the years, fought for his release, and signed petitions.
Rasoul Bodaghi’s release was carried out under the so-called “conditional release law.” However, this release has actually come under public pressure, as the Islamic Republic cannot tolerate dissenters like Rasoul Bodaghi. He has been arrested multiple times for his activism and has spent many years in prison. In 2011, he was dismissed from the Ministry of Education due to his support for teachers’ protests.
Previously, on 11th December), Rasoul Bodaghi was arrested and released on bail after 10 days. During this arrest, security forces confiscated many personal belongings of this trade union activist and his wife, including their mobile phones and personal computer. Later, in April 2022 the regimes’s “Tehran Revolutionary Court” sentenced him to four years in prison for “assembly and collusion” and an additional year for “propaganda against the regime.” As supplementary punishment, he was banned from leaving the country and from residing in Tehran and all neighbouring provinces for two years. His request for a retrial on the charges of assembly, collusion, and propaganda against the regime was accepted by the Supreme Court in March 2024.
Previously, Rasoul Bodaghi had spent a continuous six years and eight months in prison from September 2009 to May 2016. The Coordinating Council of Teachers’ Trade Associations, while celebrating his release, has reaffirmed its demand for the unconditional release of all imprisoned teachers and trade union activists.
Free Them Now (FTN), in unison with the Coordinating Council of Teachers’ Trade Associations, also emphasises the unconditional release of all imprisoned workers, teachers, and political prisoners.
Free Them Now (FTN)
02/02/2025