The Coordinating Council of Iranian cultural Trade Associations (CCITTA) and the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company have published reports that Rasool Bodaqi, Jafar Ebrahimi, Mohammad Habibi (three of the imprisoned teachers), and Reza Shahabi and Hassan Saeedi (two members of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company) were given long prison sentences by District Court #26 of the Islamic regime. The prison sentences and the charges against the above named are as follows:
·Mr. Jafar Ebrahimi : 4 years for “assembly and collusion” and 1 year for “propaganda against the regime”.
·Mohammad Habibi _3 years and 7 months prison for “assembly and collusion” and 1 year for “propaganda against the regime”.
·Rasul Bodaghi: 4 years and 6 months for “association and collusion” and 1 year for “propaganda against the regime”.
Rasool Bodaghi, Jafar Ebrahimi and Mohammad Habibi, have also been prohibited from any union activities and membership in union organizations for two years. They are also banned from leaving the country for two years. All three were arrested on May 10 this year and are in prison since then and have been denied release on bail.
·Reza Shahabi, a member of the board of directors of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, and Hassan Saaidi, a member of this union, have been each sentenced to 6 years imprisonment (5 years minimum) on the charge of propaganda against the Islamic republic and collusion with the intention of committing a crime “against the country’s security”. In the verdict issued against them, they are subject to additional punishments of being banned from leaving the country, banned from being a member of any political or societal groups. The above named have also been banned from staying in Tehran and neighbouring provinces for 2 years.
It is important to note that Rasool Bodaghi, Reza Shahabi and Hassan Saeedi were arrested following the detention of two French labor activists named secil kohler and Jacques Paris in May 2022 in Tehran. They were accused of espionage against the regime and along with many other labor activists, teachers and social activists were detained under the charge of collaboration with conspirators. Due to internal and global pressure, some of those arrested were released on bail, but Rasul Bodaghi, Reza Shahabi, Hassan Saeedi, Cecil Kohler and Jacques Paris remain in prison.
In another development, Pirouz Nami, the Secretary General of the Cultural Center of Khuzestan province, has been under arrest since Saturday, October 22, 2022. In a short phone call to his family on the day of his arrest, he stated that he began a hunger strike from the moment of his arrest in protest against the false accusations against him. Pirouz Nami has not been allowed contact with his family since then.
Free Them Now, the campaign to free jailed workers in Iran (FTN) condemns the Iranian government’s fake scenarios and security files against the activists. Besides FTN demands the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners. With the power of the revolution within Iran and strong international support, we will be able to open the prisons’ gates and free all political prisoners.
Free Them Now
November 6th, 2022
shahla.daneshfr2@gmail.com