Labor Activist Maziar Saidnejad Arrested

Maziar Saidnejad, a labor activist, was arrested on Monday, June 7, 2021 by security forces at his private residence in Tehran and transferred to an unknown location. Recently, the appellate court of Khuzestan Province has upheld a three-year prison sentence for this labor activist.

According to Hrana news agency, the news organ of the Human Rights Activists in Iran collective, on Monday, June 7, 2021, Maziar Saidnejad, a labor activist, was arrested by security forces at his private residence in Tehran and transferred to an unknown location.

Although there is no precise information regarding the reasons for the arrest and the identity of the arresting body, recently the three-year imprisonment sentence imposed on this labor activist has been upheld by the appellate court of Khuzestan Province.

Maziar Saidnejad was arrested by security forces in Ahvaz on November 30, 2018, and after the completion of interrogation procedures was transferred to Shiban Prison in Ahvaz. He was ultimately released on March 18, 2019 with a bail of 500 million tomans temporarily and pending the completion of legal proceedings from Shiban Prison in Ahvaz.

Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting on the night of January 19, 2019 aired a report titled “Burnt Design” in which it published interrogation documents of several detainees from Khuzestan labor protests and televised confessions by Maziar Saidnejad, Sepideh Ghollian, Ismail Bakhshi, Ali Nejati, and several others against themselves, in which they claimed to have connections with Marxist groups and overthrow groups outside Iran.

According to sources close to this labor activist, Maziar Saidnejad’s appearance, due to changes resulting from pressure and poor detention conditions, was not easily identifiable in this film.

The first and second court sessions for this labor activist, who was accused of membership in one of the opposition groups, gathering and conspiracy, and propaganda against the system, were held in May 2019 and July 2020 respectively. The judge, based on the fact that three charges were attributed to him for a single act, considered only one charge for issuing a verdict.

He was ultimately sentenced by Branch 4 of the Revolutionary Court of Ahvaz to three years imprisonment for the charge of membership in one of the opposition groups. In June 2021, Branch 16 of the appellate court of Khuzestan Province upheld the conviction of this labor activist.

Source: Hrana