Free jailed workers!
Some
of the worker activists currently in jail in Iran:
Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, a labour and children’s rights activist, and a
member of the Committee to Pursue the
Establishment of Workers' Organisations in Iran, who has already served
three years of a five-year sentence, while his 14-year old son is under
treatment in hospital for leukaemia. Despite his son’s continued illness,
Ebrahimzadeh has been told that his temporary leave to be with his son will not
be extended an he has to return to prison.
Reza Shahabi, a member of the executive board 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. He has already served three years of a four-year sentence.
Shahabi suffers from multiple medical conditions, including a severe back
problem.
Mohammad Jarahi, a member
of the Committee to Pursue the Establishment of Workers’ Organisations in Iran,
was arrested in January 2012 and sentenced to 5 years in prison for union
activity. Following a recent operation on his thyroid gland, the doctors have
advised recuperation outside prison conditions. However, Jarahi has been
refused medical leave.
Sharif Saed Panah, executive
board member of the Free Union of Iranian Workers and an organiser of the
30,000-signature pay-rise campaign, detained and later released in March 2013 on
an $82,000 bail, has been given a six-month jail sentence for “insulting the
regime”.
Mozaffar Saleh Nia, executive board member of the Free Union of
Iranian Workers, was detained last year and again in January this year, has
been handed a six-month jail sentence for “insulting the regime”.
Shahrokh Zamani, a member of Tehran’s Painters Union and the Committee
to Pursue the Establishment of Workers’ Organisations in Iran, was arrested in June 2011 and sentenced to
11 years in prison. Zamani has been subjected to severe tortures. He is now
being held in the notorious Rajaei Shahr prison.
Pedram Nasrollahi, a member of the Co-ordinating Committee to Help Form Workers’
Organisations in Iran, is in prison on a 19-month jail sentence.
Rasoul Bodaghi, a member of
the governing board of Teachers’ Trade Association, is serving a six-year
sentence for union activity.
Abdolreza Ghanbari, a
teacher activist, is in prison for taking part in the anti-government
demonstration in December 2009.
In addition, several worker
activists arrested in conjunction with May Day 2013, are still in jail. They
include Jalil Mohammadi, a member of the Co-ordinating Committee to Help
Form Workers’ Organisations in Iran, and auto workers Mohammad Ghasemkhani,
Bahram Saeedi and Mohammad Ehyaee.
* * *
A regime which jails workers
for fighting for their rights has no place in the International Labour
Organisation (ILO).
· Free jailed workers in Iran!
· Islamic regime of Iran out of ILO!
May 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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