Campaign
for his release continues!
Imprisoned labour leader
Reza Shahabi who has been on hunger strike for three weeks in protest against
his imprisonment and maltreatment was on Monday released on a five-day medical leave. The brief release has come under the pressure
of powerful protests in Iran and worldwide.
Reza Shahabi, an executive
board member of the Union of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs United Bus Company,
has been jailed for his part in the great bus workers’ strike in 2006 and in building
the bus workers’ union. In April 2012,
having already spent 22 months in jail, Shahabi was sentenced to six years in
prison and banned from union activity for a further five years.
Shahabi began a hunger
strike on 17 December in protest against his continued imprisonment, lack of
medical care, and abuse and maltreatment by the prison guards. According to his wife, Robabeh Rezaee, he has
already lost about 15kg and is suffering from back and neck pain and high blood
pressure.
* * *
Delighted at Reza Shahabi’s
brief release, our campaign calls for the continuation of worldwide pressures
to ensure Shahabi stays out of jail and receives the medical care that he
needs. We should not let the Islamic
Republic authorities return Shahabi to jail.
Reza Shahabi and all
jailed workers and political prisoners must be released immediately and
unconditionally!
9 January 2013
Free Them
Now! Campaign to Free
Jailed Workers in Iran
Shahla Daneshfar (shahla_daneshfar@yahoo.com)
Bahram Soroush (bahram.soroush@gmail.com)
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