Today, Thursday, December 28, 2024, Ahmad Derakhshan, a teacher, writer, and literary activist residing in Karaj, was sentenced by Branch 2 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court to one year in prison and additional punitive measures. These measures include a two-year ban from teaching, prohibition from membership in social groups and associations, a travel ban, and dismissal from public service. This sentence reflects the anti-labor and anti-people policies of the Islamic government and must be strongly condemned. Derakhshan had previously been interrogated and prosecuted on October 7 for charges of “propaganda against the regime.”
Aman Jalalinejad, another imprisoned teacher, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison by a lower court. His other case, pending in Branch 4 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, has been stalled due to a change in the presiding judge. Jalalinejad was arrested on April 9 at the entrance to Ahvaz and was transferred from the quarantine ward of Sheiban Prison to its security ward in early June. On June 12, he was charged with “propaganda against the regime” at Branch 13 of the Islamic Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office in Ahvaz.
Since the resurgence of teachers’ protests in September 2021, security forces have detained dozens of teachers, sentencing many to imprisonment. Currently, a significant number of these individuals remain incarcerated. Additionally, many teachers have been temporarily or permanently dismissed, some have been exiled, and others face imminent arrest, because they have received prison sentences. These repressive actions continue in various forms.
The names of some imprisoned teachers include: Rasoul Bodaqi, Hashem Khastar, Javad Laleh Mohammadi, Mohammad Hossein Sepehri, Nahid Shirpisheh, Aman Jalalinejad, Alireza Mardasi, Mohammad Habibi, Mohammad Hassan Poureh, Hojjatollah Rafiee, Rezgar Roshani, Mostafa Mohammad Hassan, Masoumeh Askari, Azad Khadem, and Abdullah Karim Golan.
- Reports indicate that 15 representatives of oil industry workers from the third-pillars sectors face the threat of dismissal due to demanding their rightful wages and entitlements. Since June of this year, these workers have been referred by the National Iranian Drilling Company to the “Southern Selection Committee.”..
Over the past seven months, two of these workers have received final dismissal orders, five are awaiting rulings, and the rest are waiting for summonses and clarification of their employment status. The Council for Organizing Protests of Contract Oil Workers has strongly condemned these dismissals and the securitization of labor struggles in its statements. It also reiterated its support for the struggles and demands of 120,000 third-pillars sector colleagues in the National Iranian Drilling Company and the oil industry.
- Mehdi Jahangiri, a worker in the Golgun Industrial Town, remains detained following his arrest on December 16 during protests by workers and residents of the town against repeated power outages. He was apprehended by security forces under the pretext of “a two-minute conversation” while leaving the gathering site. The immediate and unconditional release of Mehdi Jahangiri is an urgent demand of the protesting workers and residents of Golgun.
Free Them Now (FTN) the campaign to free jailed workers in demands and emphasizes the immediate and unconditional release of all imprisoned workers, teachers, and political prisoners. FTN alongside workers and teachers, demands an end to the securitization of protests and the closure of security-related cases against all political activists. We call on all international labor unions and organizations to protest the Islamic government’s repressive and anti-labor policies.
Campaign To Free Jailed Workers In Iran
Shahla Daneshfar
Osman Esmaili the retired worker released
Mehdi Jahangiri