On August 5th, Mohammad Habibi, a member of the board of directors of the Association of Teachers of Iran, was sentenced to ten and a half years imprisonment (7 and a half years imprisonment for propaganda against national security and 18 months of imprisonment for disturbing public order) and 74 lashes by the judicial authorities In Iran.
The crime of Mohammed Habibi is defending the rights of teachers, children and people. We protest against these brutal sentences with a global campaign.
Before that, the Islamic court In Qazvin sentenced another teacher, Abolfazl Azizi for participating in the people’s uprising in December 2017.
The punishment of lashing and jail sentences for Mohammad Habibi and Abolfazl Azizi is a clear crime and must be cancelled immediately.
The anti-government protests of people are increasing day by day and in this climate, the judicial authorities in Iran are handing out such heavy sentences to assert their power.
Our response to such insolence is to widen our protests.
Mohammad Habibi’s brutal verdict has been met with a wave of anger and resentment among workers, teachers and other social activists, and these protests have had global reverberations.
Various educational institutions of teachers, including the Kurdistan Teachers’ Association (Saghez and Zeyvi) and the Khorasan Teachers’ Association, as well as labour organizations such as the Free Trade Union of Workers of Iran, and the Kermanshah Electric and Metalworkers Association, have strongly condemned these brutal and medieval sentences and demanded the immediate release of Mohammad Habibi.
At the global level, the Confederation of International Workers’ Unions (ITUC) and the International Education Organization EI have condemned Mohamed Habibi’s sentence and urged Iranian authorities to release Mohammad Habibi and other teachers immediately and unconditionally.
In its statement, the World Education Organization has called on social activists and trade unions around the world to protest against these brutal sentences and calls for the immediate release of Mohammad Habibi. The campaign for the release of Mohammad Habibi and other imprisoned teachers, such as Esmail Abdi, Mahmoud Beheshti, and Rouhollah Mardani, continues in condemnation of the brutal sentence of lashing, which is just one of the atrocious Islamic punishments.
Free Them Now (Campaign to Free Jailed Workers) asks all labour organizations and humanitarian organizations around the world to widely condemn the Islamic Republic for issuing such criminal sentences.
Free Them Now calls for a ban on lashing sentences and the cancellation of Mohammad Habibi’s and Abolfazl Azizi’s convictions as well as the cancellation of all national security sentences given to worker activists, teachers and all political activists. Please support our demands and join us in any way you can, including the condemnation of the Islamic Republic through open protest letters and putting pressure on the International Labour Organization (ILO) to end the appeasement of the Islamic Republic.
All workers, teachers and political prisoners must be released immediately and unconditionally.
free political prisoners
Campaign to Free Jailed Workers
Contact person in Norway: Sabri Amir Hoseini