Condemn trumped-up charges against trade union activists in Iran! Arrests of two French teachers’ trade unionists in Iran and the scandalous coverage by the Intelligence Ministry and IRI Broadcasting. Statement of the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations, in Response to the Ridiculous TV Show of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Against the Teachers' Union Activists
Sign this petition, which has been created today by Iranian teachers and other trade union activists: https://www.petitions.net/free_imprisoned_trade_unionists_in_iran
Statement of the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations, in Response to the Ridiculous TV Show of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Against the Teachers' Union Activists
Statement by the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company: Condemn trumped-up charges, frame- up, arrests and spreading lies by the Intelligence Ministry and other repressive forces!
IASWI: Since May Day 2022, a number of trade union activists, especially related to the teachers’ unions and the bus workers’ union, have been arrested and are being interrogated and charged with serious but completely false and baseless national security charges.
We are asking all labour, human rights’ and workers’ rights’ defenders around the world to strongly condemn the Iranian government’s escalating violation of workers’ rights, right to organize and the freedom of association.
In a statement issued on May 19, 2022, the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations stated, “Recently, the Ministry of Intelligence, after arresting some of the most well-known and experienced union activists, in a ridiculous statement linked the arrestees and the Coordinating Council to the two arrested French nationals (reportedly Ms. Cecile Kohler, a teacher and a member of the French teachers’ trade unions, and her partner, Jacques Paris, (a veteran trade union activist) and claimed that they sought to cause riot and unrest in Iran through trade union activists….”
Based on the available information on the Education International website, “Cécile Kohler joined the Syndicat national Force ouvrière des lycées et collèges (SNFOLC) in her first year of teaching in 2009. Since 2011 she has been a shop steward in her organisation. She has undertaken national duties since 2016 in her role as International Relations Officer for the Fédération nationale de l'enseignement, de la culture et de la formation professionnelle FO (FNEC FP-FO)”. Our search and contacts in France have also confirmed that Jacques Paris is a teacher and the former SNFOLC General Secretary, from 2009 to 2016. Both are well-known individuals, teachers and trade union activists and completely far from allegedly being “French spies” according to the disgraceful IRIB and the repressive intelligence forces.
Cécile Kohler and her partner, Jacques Paris, travelled to Iran on visitor’s visa on April 28, 2022, but they got arrested on the night of May 7, 2022, in a taxi that was taking them to the airport to leave the country. The Intelligence forces and their national TV are alleging that Cécile Kohler and her husband were “French Spies” that came to Iran under the pretext of vacationing but with the intention of fomenting and causing unrest in the country. All of this outrageous and false allegations seem to be based on the fact that during their visits to Iran, they reportedly met with four well-known public figures of teachers’ trade unions in Iran, Rasoul Bodaghi, Eskandar Lotfi, Masoud Nikhkhah and Shaban Mohammadi), for dinner and also with three well-known and leading members of Tehran bus workers’ syndicate (Reza Shahabi, Davood Razavi and Hassan Saeidi) for informal and friendly gathering and dinner in a restaurant. They also took pictures and selfies during these “clandestine” meetings. The Intelligence authorities arrested Rasoul Bodaghi, Eskandar Lotfi, Maoud Nikhkhah and Shaaban Mohammadi immediately after this visit. Reza Shahabi, Hassan Saeidi, and Anisha Assodllahi, who interpreted for the bus workers’ syndicate during their dinner in a restaurant, have since been arrested and their homes were raided by security forces. Davood Razavi’s residence has been raided by the security forces since then as well, and his daughter was traumatized as intelligence forces broke into the house while nobody else was at home.
The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Vahed Syndicate) issued a statement on May 16, 2022, in which they emphasized, “The intelligence, judicial and executive authorities of the government, incapable of giving any humane and responsible response to the just demands of the working class and the deprived and oppressed people of Iran, are increasingly pursuing their usual solutions, namely repression, prosecution, arresting, trumped-up national security charges, frame- up and spreading lies…. The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Vahed Syndicate), as part of the independent labour movement in Iran, has a full right and duty to be in solidarity with all sections of the working class in Iran and around the world. In the spirit of international solidarity, we defend our relations with labour organizations and workers in other parts of the world and considers it as our absolute right”.
The Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ trade Associations in a statement dated, May 19, 2022, said, “For the past twenty years, these well-known union activists (Bodaqi, Lotfi, Nikkhah, Mohammadi) have been pursuing demands of the teachers including demands related to the Article 30 of the Constitution. The IRIB has reported in a way to project that these teachers’ activists have just joined the ranks of teachers and intended to create a riot in collaboration with the foreigners. The arrested teachers, in reality, have a twenty-year history of campaigning for union demands, and their activities have been carried out in accordance with Article 27 of the Constitution…. The Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations, while strongly supporting all the arrested teachers and rejecting all baseless charges against them, expects that all of them be released as soon as possible and unconditionally”.
In a news release issued by the CCITTA, on May 23, 2022, Rasoul Bodaghi and Shaban Mohammadi have finally been in contact with their families. Both imprisoned teachers expressed high spirits and have given warm greetings to all union activists and teachers in Iran.
Rasoul Bodaghi said that he is in the same cell with Jacques Paris, who is an elementary school teacher in Paris. Bodaghi said that he has seen the slanderous TV show of the IRIB from prison and that he would take legal action against this government-sponsored radio and television network for defamation and baseless accusations as soon as he was released. Rasoul Bodaghi said that their get-together with two French teachers was a very customary and conventional occurrence and nothing special was done in that gathering except usual conversation about the educational issues. He has also emphasized that basically the teachers do not have access to anything that might be considered as being secret. That is why Bodaqi emphasized that he has defied the interrogations.
Reza Shahabi, a member of the board of directors of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, has also been able to speak with his family on the phone. He has gone through a number of interrogations since his arrest on May 12 2022. Reza Shahabi, while not in good physical conditions, was in high spirits and stated that his dinner in a restaurant in Tehran along with other colleagues with the French trade union activists was a completely normal and hospitable one, and that they had done nothing unusual or secret in this public informal gathering. Reza Shahabi, in response to the publication of his pictures and the picture and name of the arrested teachers and trade unionists on the national radio and television, stated that these actions only make the radio and television look more ridiculous.
Hassan Saeidi, a well-known member of the Tehran bus workers' union, who was arrested on Wednesday night, May 17th, after 9 intelligence agents raided his residence, in protests against several days of successive interrogations in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, has gone on a “wet” hunger strike.
The recent arrests of teachers and labour activists in Iran, and the baseless allegations against them, especially through national broadcasting, has received strong condemnations and absolute disgust across Iran, in social media and by many organizations nationally and internationally. The Education International, “the global federation of educators, has condemned the arrest of Iranian teacher trade unionists and demands their immediate and unconditional release. The targeted repression against teachers advocating for their students, their communities and their rights as unionists must end. We denounce the unjustifiable arrests in various cities of dozens of teachers on May Day, a date meant to celebrate workers around the world. We also demand an end to the detention and harassment of those who are peacefully advocating for the release of their colleagues”. (https://www.ei-ie.org/en/item/26486:statement-teachers-and-trade-unionists-in-iran-must-be-immediately-and-unconditionally-released)
The Canadian union of Public Employees (CUPE), in a statement dated, May 19, 2022 stated, “CUPE partner the Tehran bus workers’ syndicate and other labour organizations report that … more than 10 bus workers striking for wage increases have been arrested in recent days. The bus workers’ union is an affiliate of the International Transport Workers’ Federation…. These arrests and detentions are violations of freedom of association, the right to organize, and freedom of speech. CUPE also demands an end to the ongoing detention and harassment of people who are peacefully advocating for the release of their colleagues”. (https://cupe.ca/cupe-calls-immediate-and-unconditional-release-iranian-labour-activists)
The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions, in a letter to the Supreme Lead of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that they are “extremely concerned about news detailing that several members of the independent labour movement, and workers activists in Iran are harassed and/or detained for engaging in legitimate trade union work…. In recent days, we have once again witnessed a wave of arrests of labour activists, teachers, civil rights defenders, and artists. We are extremely concerned by the continuous deterioration in the situation of trade union and fundamental human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
Many labour and teacher organizations in Iran have been issuing public statements denouncing the recent arrests, and the intelligence forces’ conspiracies and national security charges against trade union activists in Iran and demanding their immediate and unconditional freedom.
The Gilan Teachers’ Trade Association, while condemning this “cowardly and illegal act”, has called on the public prosecutor “to end these immoral and illegal practices” in the (IRI) media in the first place “by suing IRIB for making false accusations against these teachers before the trial, choosing a lawyer and denying them the opportunity to defend themselves and disturbing the minds of millions of viewers”.
The Kurdistan Teachers’ Trade Association has emphasized that the teachers' movement is seeking the fulfillment of its legal demands in civilian ways and strongly protests against the anti-democratic approach and irresponsibility of the system and violent treatment of legal gatherings.
The Teachers' Trade Association of Islamshahr has strongly condemned this obscene and unfair move, calling for the trial and apology of the intelligent agents who made the video, and declaring that they will leave nothing but notoriety with these delusional moves. “Stop using these unconventional, shabby and unfounded methods and proceed with the freedom of these loved ones as quickly as possible. We emphasize and remind that the teachers' movement is alive and continues to work strongly”.
The teachers' Trade Association of Khuzestan has strongly condemned any accusation against these well-known cultural activists and their detention.
In an open statement from the Families of Detained Teachers, Eskandar Lotfi, Shaban Mohammadi, Massoud Nikkhah and Rasoul Badaghi, they stated, “We, the families of the arrested teachers, are not at all surprised that even today, individuals engaged in embezzlement, economic corruption, and bank fraud are still published anonymously in the state-run media, without any condemnation. And yet, the same state-run media have our loved ones publicly insulted and falsely named as spies, only because they are teachers and protesting for their rights. We, the family of the detained teachers, reserve the right to restore our dignity and take legal action about all the defamation by state run media and their unjust arrests, until justice prevails”.
The Writers' Association of Iran have in a statement issued on May 22, 2022, wrote: “Nearly two weeks have passed since the security forces raided the residence of Keyvan Mohtadi, a writer, translator and member of the Writers' Association of Iran, and Anisha Asadollahi, a translator. On May 7, these two working class supporters were arrested after a search of their home and confiscation of their personal belongings, and were transferred to Security Ward 209 of Evin Prison.
After several days of unawareness about their situation, it became clear that the recent arrests were made following a case by the Ministry of Intelligence. The security forces manufactured and published their deliberate fabrications and rumours about the recent detainees, Keyvan Mohtadi, Reza Shahabi, Anisha Asadollahi, Reyhaneh Ansari Nejad, Hassan Saeidi, ... as well as the detained teachers, Rasoul Bodaghi, Eskandar Lotfi, Massoud Nikkhah, Shaban Mohammadi, and others.
It is no secret that these kinds of fabrications have so far been used only to deceive public opinion, to provide a platform for forced confessions and to produce fake cases, to issue long-term prison sentences, against the arrestees and to intimidate and repress other activists. The repetition of these fabrications and the criminalization of issues such as relations with allied organisations and the attribution of justice loving people to "foreign sources" signal a new wave of repression of trade unions and political activists and a narrowing of their field of activity. On the other hand, these cases reveal the government's fear of strengthening Iran's trade unions by connecting with similar organizations in the world. It is the natural and civil right of trade unions to interact and cooperate with their counterparts around the world. Alleging that such relations are tantamount to espionage is a clear violation of human rights and international conventions to which the Islamic Republic is a signatory.”
IASWI is urging our fellow workers and trade unions around the world to take all necessary measures for the immediate and unconditional release of all teachers and other trade union activists from prison, and to call for an end to repressions of workers and trade unionists in Iran and respect freedom of association and trade union rights under ILO Convention 87 and 98 and The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
The government of Iran must immediately and unconditionally release all jailed teachers and trade union activists who have been arrested since May Day 2022, including Rasoul Bodaghi, Eskandar Lofi, Reza Shahabi, Jafar Ebrahimi, Hassan Saeidi, Anisha Asadollahi, Reyhaneh Ansarinejad, Mohammad Habibi, Keyvan Mohtadi, Shaban Mohammadi, Masoud Nikkhah, and Hadi Sadeghzadeh, and many others including 11 Tehran bus workers who have been arrested during the recent strikes for wage increases. The updated list of all recent arrestees will be published separately.
We also demands an end to the ongoing detention and harassment of other trade unionists who are serving jail sentences.
We are asking for your urgent support to ask the Iranian government to:
Unconditionally drop of all charges against imprisoned trade unionists and their immediate release.
Respect and uphold the rights of all workers including teachers to organize and to freedom of association and freedom of speech including the right to peaceful assembly, without fear of state intervention.
International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran (IASWI)
May 24, 2022
www.workers-iran.org; for regular updates, please refer to the IASWI’s Twitter and Facebook accounts and our main website in Farsi: https://etehadbinalmelali.com/
https://twitter.com/IASWIinfo
Sign this petition, which has been created today by Iranian teachers and other trade union activists: https://www.petitions.net/free_imprisoned_trade_unionists_in_iran
Sample Protest letter – Arrests of teachers and trade union activists in Iran – updated on May 24, 2022
We are writing to you to protest the violation of trade union rights in Iran.
We are extremely concerned about news detailing that several members of the teachers’, bus workers’ and other independent trade union organizations and activists have been persecuted, arrested and incarcerated for engaging in legitimate trade union activities.
We condemn the Iranian government’s repression of the latest rightful actions by various Iranian independent labour unions, workers, and human rights activists. Workers and their unions including teachers and other sectors, have been protesting about low and unpaid wages, rising costs in the context of a deteriorating economic situation nationally, and the lack of freedom of association, expression, assembly, protest, and strike that are enshrined in ILO conventions and other international conventions.
In recent days, we have once again witnessed a wave of arrests of labour activists, teachers and civil rights defenders. We are extremely concerned by the continuous deterioration in the
situation of trade union and fundamental human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
We call on the Iranian Government to take all necessary measures for the immediate and unconditional release of all the teachers, labour and human rights activists from prison, and stop repressions of workers and trade unionists, and respect freedom of association and trade union rights under ILO Convention 87 and 98.
We echo the demands by trade union organizations in Iran and internationally for the immediate and unconditional release of all jailed labour, teacher and social activists who have been arrested since May Day 2022, including Rasoul Bodaghi, Eskandar Lofi, Reza Shahabi, Jafar Ebrahimi, Hassan Saeidi, Anisha Asadollahi, Reyhaneh Ansarinejad, Mohammad Habibi, Keyvan Mohtadi, Shaban Mohammadi, Masoud Nikkhah, and Hadi Sadeghzadeh, and many others including 11 Tehran bus workers who have been arrested during the recent strikes for wage increases.
These arrests and detentions are violations of freedom of association, the right to organize, and freedom of speech. We also demands an end to the ongoing detention and harassment of people who are peacefully advocating for the release of their colleagues.
We reiterate the call from trade unions and global union federations for the Iranian government to:
- Unconditionally drop all charges against imprisoned trade unionists and human rights defenders.
- Respect and uphold the rights of all workers including teachers to organize and to freedom of association and freedom of speech including the right to peaceful assembly, without fear of state intervention.
- Respect the rights and privacy of family members of imprisoned trade union activists and ensure their safety and wellbeing.
PLEASE SEND protest letters to the electronic addresses below: Please also send them via the Iranian diplomatic representatives accredited to your country, if there is an Iranian diplomatic mission in your country. Although Iranian embassies’ addresses change frequently, please see the link below which might help: https://www.embassypages.com/iran
· Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
Twitter: @khamenei_ir (English) or @Khamenei_fa (Persian)
Email:
· The Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran – High Council of Human Rights
· Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva
Cc:
Statement of the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations, in Response to the Ridiculous TV Show of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Against the Teachers' Union Activists
Dear colleagues, honorable educators of Iran!
As you know, the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association, with a twenty-year history, is an umbrella organization that was formed by teachers’ trade associations and organizations across the country. All member organizations of the Coordinating Council are registered with the Ministry of Interior. This council is governed by the votes of the representatives of the member organizations and is not dependent on any individual.
The Council has also been an official member of the Education International (EI) since its inception. From the very beginning, the Council has defended the demands of teachers and students and has made their voices known to the authorities through various means (correspondence, meetings with the government officials, members of parliament, ministry of education, writing petitions, and finally protest rallies). For twenty years, Iranian educators have held protest rallies in the most peaceful and civilized manner possible and in accordance with Article 27 of the Constitution. From March 2021 to March 2022 alone, eleven successful national protests by teachers took place.
It should be emphasized that the decisions of the Coordinating Council are taken by representatives of the member organizations and are publicly announced. It should also be stressed that the teachers' protest movement is a genuine, independent trade union movement and is not dependant on any individual, political faction, group or institution. Iranian teachers are very principled but have been cowardly and unscrupulously accused of being connected to institutions, groups or individuals - inside and outside the country.
Recently, the Ministry of Intelligence, after arresting some of the most well-known and experienced union activists, in a ridiculous statement linked the arrestees and the Coordinating Council to the two arrested French nationals (reportedly Ms. Cecile Kohler, a teacher and a member of the French teachers’ trade unions, and her husband, Jacques Paris, a retired elementary school teacher) and claimed that they sought to cause riot and unrest in Iran through trade union activists. The Intelligence Ministry have not asked themselves at all why teachers have protested most peacefully in the last twenty years if they are seeking to create unrest.
In another desperate attempt, in a tv show, broadcasted by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, they named some of Iran's most honorable teachers (Rasoul Bodaghi, Eskandar Lotfi, Shaban Mohammadi, and Masoud Nikkhah) who have a long and clear background of trade union activities as being involved in this alleged conspiracy.
The Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations, while condemning these actions of the intelligence forces and the state-run television (IRIB) of the Islamic Republic of Iran, would like to convey a few points to our esteemed teachers and the honorable people of Iran:
1. According to the laws of the Islamic Republic, prior to a public court trial with the presence of the accused and the observance of full legal rules, it is forbidden to name and dishonor the dignity of individuals through the media. However, the IRIB has a long and shameful history in this regard, in a way that the reporters actually play the role of interrogators, but are a whole lot worse. But the subtle point is that the honorable people of Iran are well acquainted with this method; one can imagine that in the next few days, in order to complete this shameful and baseless fabricated tv-show, the two French nationals will probably be forced to appear on television and confess that their purpose in traveling to Iran was to divert teacher’s protests towards rioting.
2. A brief look at the resumes of the French detainees shows that they are trade union activists, independent of the French government, and are deeply opposed to the French government's education and labour policies. It is ridiculous and preposterous that innocent citizens of another country, who are not part of that countries’ ruling institutions, are being taken hostage and used as a pretext for repressing Iranian teachers and taking revenge on the Iranian trade union activists.
3. For the past twenty years, these well-known union activists (Bodaqi, Lotfi, Nikkhah, Mohammadi) have been pursuing demands of the teachers including demands related to the Article 30 of the Constitution. The IRIB has reported in a way to project that these teachers’ activists have just joined the ranks of teachers and intended to create a riot in collaboration with the foreigners. The arrested teachers, in reality, have a twenty-year history of campaigning for union demands, and their activities have been carried out in accordance with Article 27 of the Constitution.
It is clear to everyone that the teachers’ protests are focused on the trade union demands that have been expressed in the slogans, speeches and resolutions of the demonstrators: all these repute claims made by the baseless IRIB Report.
4. It seems that the Ministry of Intelligence has three main aims in making these baseless accusations:
First, to target the most popular, well-known and influential trade union activists by fabricating a baseless case against them.
Second, to accuse the Coordinating Council, which has been and continues to be the only authority in the teachers' national protest movement, of instigating riot and taking directions from foreign elements.
Third, given the emptiness of the treasury of the country caused by the unbridled looting, these two arrested French nationals would be used in their dealing with the French government for certain concessions.
In the meantime, the victims of implementation of this immoral project, are Iranian teachers who have dedicated their lives to years of activism for the quality public education in Iran and the realization of the rights of teachers and students.
The Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations, while strongly supporting all the arrested teachers and rejecting all baseless charges against them, expects that all of them be released as soon as possible and unconditionally, or that their trial be held in public, in accordance with Article 165 of the Constitution so that the honorable people of Iran can judge for themselves.
Despite the anti-teacher behavior of some of the Iranian leaders, we hope that due to the prevailing conditions in the country, the rest of the ruling leaders reconsider their approaches, and instead of perusing the line of repression, meet the demands of the teaching community, and put an end to making such theatrical and shameful projects against teachers and put aside wishful thinking of being able to eliminate Iranian teacher trade union activities.
The Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations
May 19, 2022
@kashowra
Statement by the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company: Condemn trumped-up charges, frame- up, arrests and spreading lies by the Intelligence Ministry and other repressive forces!
We demand immediate and unconditional release of all imprisoned labour and teacher activists arrested in recent days
The struggles of the working class in Iran for a humane life, the right to freedom of expression and to achieve their most basic violated rights, have not only been diminished during the COVID-19 pandemic, but have also taken on wider dimensions. The nationwide protests by teachers for the right to free public education and the right to organize, for wages above the poverty line, and for the release of imprisoned teachers across the country, with the support of students and the whole society, have not stopped even for a moment.
In recent days, we have once again witnessed the wave of arrests of labour activists, teachers, civil right defenders and artists. Despite widespread repression, numerous arrests and reports of many people being killed by police and security forces, nationwide protests is going on in Iran by the working and oppressed people, against the ravaging inflation, corruption, looting of public assets, rampant injustices and the violation of the most basic human rights.
The intelligence, judicial and executive authorities of the government, incapable of giving any humane and responsible response to the just demands of the working class and the deprived and oppressed people of Iran, are increasingly pursuing their usual solutions, namely repression, prosecution, arresting, Trumped-up national security charges, frame- up and spreading lies.
Although the Intelligence Ministry has not yet officially made public the names of the recent detainees and their charges, their agents are busy spreading false and completely baseless news and rumours on their virtual networks against the arrested labour and teacher activists.
The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Vahed Syndicate), as part of the independent labour movement in Iran, has a full right and duty to be in solidarity with all sections of the working class in Iran and around the world. In the spirit of international solidarity, we defend our relations with labour organizations and workers in other parts of the world and considers it as our absolute right.
Tehran bus workers’ syndicate condemns any charges and also spreading lies against its members, including Reza Shahabi, arrested on May 12, 2022, and other labour and teacher detainees. We demand immediate and unconditional release of all imprisoned labour, teacher and social activists arrested in recent days, including Reza Shahabi, Anisha Asadollahi, Reyhaneh Ansarinejad, Keyvan Mohtadi, as well as May Day detained teachers including Rasoul Badaghi, Jafar Ebrahimi, Eskandar Lotfi, Mohammad Habibi, Mohsen Omrani, Shaban Mohammadi, Masoud Nikkhah, Mahmoud Malaki, Reza Amanifar, Asghar Hajeb and Hadi Sadeghzadeh.
Freedom of association, expression, assembly, protest, strike, and class and international solidarity are among the most universally recognized rights of trade unions and labour activists. These fundamental freedoms, enshrined in ILO conventions and other international conventions, are binding on the Islamic Republic of Iran. The continuous violations of these fundamental rights by the Iranian government only intensifies public disgust towards the oppressors.
The Tehran bus workers’ union, as an affiliate of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), is part of the global public sector workers' movement. We call on all workers in the world and international labour organizations to put the maximum pressures on the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran, during the upcoming International Labour Conferences, on May 27 to June 11, 2022, and through other necessary measures, in relation to the repression and detention of teachers and other labour activists in Iran including the above mentioned detainees.
Baseless national Security charges against labour activists and teachers and activists of student movements and egalitarian and equity seeking movements in Iran have a long history and have not affected the will of the independent labour movement in Iran in any way. Therefore, we remind the authorities not to test the patience of the working class and the deprived people of Iran. Release all detained worker activists and teachers immediately and unconditionally!
Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Vahed Syndicate) hereby announces its national and international campaign for the release of Reza Shahabi and other detainees since May Day. We will not stop this campaign until total annulment of all false accusations and Trumped-up charges against them and their unconditional release. We call on all trade unions, labour rights defenders, and social activists in Iran and around the world to consciously expose, with full tact and coordination, the security services’ conspiracies and support us in putting an end to these kinds of shameful and dirty politics against activists of workers’ and progressive movements.
News about our Syndicate and information about this campaign will be announced publicly via our Telegram channel, Instagram and the official email of the union.
Join us in this campaign!
Free all jailed workers, teachers and trade unionists!
Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Vahed Syndicate)
Monday, May 16, 2022
https://t.me/vahedsyndica
https://instagram.com
www.vahedsyndica.com
For more information, please International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran (IASWI):
www.workers-iran.org; for regular updates, please refer to the IASWI’s Twitter and Facebook accounts and our main website in Farsi: https://etehadbinalmelali.com/
https://twitter.com/IASWIinfo
https://www.facebook.com/IASWI