More trade unionists arrested in Iran

Letter

8 January 2012

To all trade unions and human rights organisations

We are writing to inform you that in the past two weeks there have been a further intensification of attacks by the Islamic Republic on worker activists in Iran.

The latest incident is the arrest this morning of Sharif Saed Panah, member of the executive board of the Free Union of Iranian Workers. This follows the arrest on 5th January of Union member Mozaffar Saleh Nia in the city of Sanandaj, and two weeks earlier of Mohammad Hosseini, a worker activist in Damavand City. All three have been detained for their union activity.

In the mean time, Reza Shahabi, who is a member of the executive board of Tehran and District Bus Workers’ Union, has been admitted to hospital following a ten-day hunger strike in protest against his arbitrary arrest and imprisonment. In a letter from hospital, Shahabi has protested against his treatment as a prisoner while in hospital, with restrictions even on visits by his family, and has said he would refuse medical treatment until the restrictions are lifted. Ebrahim Madadi, also an executive board member of the bus workers’ union, continues to be detained, as are Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, member of the Follow-up Committee to Form Free Trade Unions, Rasoul Bodaghi, member of the Teachers’ Trade Association, and many student and civil rights activists.

We call on all trade unions and human rights organisations to express their revulsion against the latest arrests and the continued persecution of trade unionists and political dissidents in Iran, and to demand their immediate and unconditional release.

Free Them Now!
Campaign to Free Jailed Workers in Iran

http://free-them-now.blogspot.com/

For further info, contact:
Shahla_daneshfar@yahoo.com
Bahram.Soroush@gmail.com