Three Iranian Labor Activists Sentenced To Prison For May Day Protests

Teachers union activist Jafar Ebrahimi was arrested on April 30 along with Rasul Bodaghi and Mohammad Habibi. The three were accused of coordinating demonstrations held in several cities on May 1.

 October 24, 2022

• By RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Three prominent Iranian labor activists have been found guilty of charges related to their union activities and handed prison sentences.

The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced teachers union activists Jafar Ebrahimi, Rasul Bodaghi, and Mohammad Habibi to cumulative prison sentences of four years for illegal assembly and collusion and one year for propaganda against Iran.

The three were arrested by security agents on April 30, just ahead of demonstrations that were held in several cities on May Day, which coincided with Teachers' Day in Iran.

They were also accused of coordinating the protests with French teachers' union official Cecile Kohler and her partner, Jacques Paris, whom Tehran has tried to link to protesting Iranian teachers.

The arrests were largely seen as an attempt to discredit the rallies and increase pressure on the Iranian teachers' union to stop the protests.

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Iranian officials have accused the two French nationals of "entering the country to sow chaos and destabilize society."

Iranian teachers -- along with pensioners and workers from other sectors -- took to the streets across the country over the summer to demand better pay and working conditions.

The verdict comes at a time when security forces are trying to suppress widespread anti-government protests in cities across the country sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for "improperly" wearing a head scarf.

UN human rights experts have expressed concern about the "violent repression" of civil society in Iran, including union members and teachers arrested for protesting low or unpaid wages and poor working conditions.

At the same time, pensioners and other groups have been protesting against the poor economic situation in the country, blaming the government for spiraling inflation, high unemployment, and failing to deliver on pledges to increase wages and improve living conditions.

The government's response to the protests has been arrests, violence, and repression of demonstrators.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Almost 12,500 people arrested in Iran protest crackdown, says rights group

Families struggle to contact relatives as opposition calls for movement to focus on plight of thousands in jail

Demonstrators protest in Tehran earlier this month over Mahsa Amini's death. Photograph: AP

Patrick Wintour 

Diplomatic editor

Fri 21 Oct 2022

Almost 12,500 people have been arrested and nearly 250 killed since the street protests began in Iran, according to a prominent human rights group, with thousands of anxious families struggling to make contact with loved ones who have gone missing and presumed to be in jail.

The news came as the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Maj Gen Hossein Salami, said security forces were close to snuffing out the remaining protests. He said: “Sedition is going through its last moments.”

But protesters have insisted that defiance was continuing. One group pointed to truck drivers joining oil refinery workers on rallies, as well as demonstrations among Baloch people in Zahedan. As many as 200 refinery workers have been arrested since their protests started a fortnight ago.

The Writers Union of Iran issued a statement about the crackdown, saying: “Repression of people who protested with empty hands has been a daily occurrence in the last 40 years. But what happened to children and prisoners last week is one of the blackest pages in the record of the current government.”

The union added that “the attack of security forces on schools and prisons and the beating and killing of children and prisoners is a tragedy beyond the killing of protesters in the streets. In this stage of repression, the government, as always, denies the reality, spreads rumours, and distorts public opinion in order to thwart the efforts of people’s organisations and groups to express the truth”.

Some opposition groups say the focus of the largely leaderless social movement must shift to the plight of thousands in jail. Others say its organicnature is its strength since there are no leaders to round up.

The protests were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish woman who collapsed while in custody of the morality police and later died. Lawyers for Amini in a fresh statement disputed the official account that she collapsed due to a pre-existing neurological condition.

The Centre for Human Rights in Iran said 3,000 people had been arrested in Tehran province alone, 835 of whom remained in jail, including 200 university students. As many as 1,300 have been sent to Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary from Evin prison after a fire inside the facility at the weekend. The figure of 12,450 arrests has been given by HRANA, an Iranian human rights news website.

Iranian human rights groups say journalists are being especially targeted, especially if they report on individuals being detained. Mohammad Mehdi Esmaili, the minister of guidance, said the number of journalists that remained under arrest was not high, but according to the International Federation of Journalists 24 have been arrested since the protests started with 11 being held in Evin prison. Reporters Without Borders says there are more than 30 journalists in jail, leaving many publications cowed and censored.

In one case seen as typical, Maryam Mazrouei, a journalist and well-known news photographer who has twice been arrested, was apparently released on Thursday after 12 days in detention.

She disappeared from public view, not responding to any of her social media and WhatsApp accounts, leaving her friends and family desperate to find out her whereabouts and appealing for her to be freed. Reza Moini, the former director of the Iran and Afghanistan for Reporters Without Borders said requests were met with silence from the legal authorities. No reason has been given for her release. In most cases, houses, phones and computers are being searched for signs of disloyalty.

Niloufar Hammadi, the reporter from Sharq newspaper which broke the story of Amini’s death, has been in Evin prison ever since.

Others such as the journalist Farkhondeh Ashoori was arrested at her house in Shiraz on 17 October and taken to an unidentified location. She has expressed support for the protests on social media. Security forces arrested the writer and journalist Mandana Sadeghi and her husband, Reza Mohammadi, at their house in Abadan.

The arrest number of 12,450 must be an estimate, partly because the government is unlikely to provide accurate figures, and the internet remains heavily restricted. Iranians who have left the country recently say the scale of the arrest is much higher than the west had presumed.

The mass arrests appear to have been sparked by an order on 22 September from the head of the judiciary, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Eje’i, that preventive detentions were necessary. The order led to the arrest of women and union activists including Maryam Karimbeigi and Golrokh Iriyaei.

Many of those arrested are given either no or minimal contact with their family.

Iranian cleric voices support for protesters as teachers call for strike

Teachers' union to protest for two days over deaths of schoolchildren amid clampdown by security forces


Anti-government demonstrations sparked by the death of a young woman in police custody have rocked Iran since last month. AP

The National
Oct 21, 2022

An Iranian cleric on Friday voiced support for the public's right to protest against the government, as teachers were expected to call a two-day strike from next week.

Anti-government demonstrations sparked by the death of a young woman in police custody have rocked the country since last month.

Mahsa Amini, who was aged 22, died three days after she was detained by the morality police in Tehran, on charges of breaching the country's strict dress code.

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"The people have the right to criticise the leader of Muslim society, whether the criticism is justified or not," Ayatollah Javad Alavi-Boroujerdi was quoted by Shafaqna news agency as saying.

"The people have something to say and they don't agree with what you are doing," he told authorities.

The cleric, 68, is the grandson of late grand ayatollah Hossein Boroujerdi, the leading Shiite cleric in the 20th century.

He said that the media should have its freedom and "different thoughts should be expressed on state television".

Following Amini's death, violence spread to the streets, resulting in dozens of deaths and the arrest of hundreds.

During the unrest since last month, "some people have been arrested and are in jail... treat them with mercy," the Ayatollah said.

His sentiments were similar to remarks made by Grand Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani, a prominent conservative cleric and strong supporter of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who called on the authorities to "listen to the demands of the people".

It came as of the country's teachers' unions called a two-day strike from Sunday over the deaths of schoolchildren amid a clampdown by security forces.

Young women, university students and schoolgirls have led the charge, removing their headscarves, chanting anti-government slogans and confronting the security forces on the streets.

The Co-ordinating Council of Teachers' Syndicates on Thursday called a strike in response to the government clampdown, which Amnesty International has said caused the deaths of at least 23 children.

"The Co-ordinating Council declares sit-in strikes for Sunday and Monday. We teachers will be present at schools but will refrain from being present in classes," it said on its Telegram channel.

"We know very well that the military and security forces and plainclothes [officers] have violated schools and educational centres," it said.

"During this systematic oppression, they have mercilessly taken the lives of a number of pupils and children; from Nika [Shahkarami] and Sarina [Esmailzadeh], to Abolfazl [Adinezadeh] and Asra Panahi."

The four, all in their teens, were killed by Iran's security forces during their operation against the nationwide protests that have flared since September 16, when Amini died in custody, according to human rights groups.

Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights said on Thursday that at least 27 children have been killed by the security forces and that children and teachers are among the thousands arrested in the crackdown.

In its statement, the teachers' union said "a large number of teachers have been arrested" without being charged.

"The rulers must know that Iran's teachers do not tolerate these atrocities and tyranny and proclaims that we are for the people, and these bullets and pellets you shoot at the people target our lives and souls," it said.


"This is why the Co-ordinating Council of Teachers Syndicates supports the rightful protests of the people across Iran, and condemns the killings and oppression of past weeks."

It vowed to "continue our protest until the people's right to protest is recognised, all pupils are unconditionally freed and return to schools, the system stops killing the people and children, and stops answering the people's rightful demands with bullets".

Updated: October 22, 2022

Vienna Confirms Arrest Of Austrian National In Iran Amid Protests



Austria has confirmed that one of its citizens has been arrested in Iran amid a wave of protests triggered by the death of a young woman while in police custody for "improperly" wearing a mandatory head scarf, or hijab.

The Austrian Foreign Ministry said on October 20 that the arrest of the Austrian man was not connected to the demonstrations.

"According to the Iranian authorities, he is accused of a crime unrelated to the demonstrations that have taken place continuously since the death of Mahsa Amini," the ministry said in a statement, referring to the 22-year-old who died last month after being detained by the country's morality police for allegedly wearing a hijab improperly.

The Fars news agency, which is affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), reported on October 19 that Iranian security forces have arrested a total of 14 foreigners, including American, British, Austrian, and French citizens, for their alleged involvement in anti-government protests.

Anger over Amini's death on September 16 has swept Iran, with demonstrations in cities across the country.

Iran has repeatedly accused outside forces of stoking the protests, though Tehran has not shown any evidence to back up its claim.

An Iranian-Austrian dual citizen, Masud Mosaheb, was already being held in Iran before the unrest. Iran has arrested dozens of foreigners and dual nationals in recent years, often on widely criticized espionage and security-related charges. Mosaheb was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2020.

According to Austria’s Kurier newspaper, the 75-year-old Mosaheb was detained in January 2019 while leading a delegation to Iran for an international medical project.

Western countries have repeatedly charged that Iran is taking dual and foreign nationals into custody on false charges for the sole purpose of using them in prisoner swaps.
Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

FOTOS OCTOBER 22

GLOBAL DAY IN SOLIDARITY WITH IRANIAN WOMEN

Demonstrators chant slogans while marching during the "March of Solidarity for Iran"