Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Workers Rally to Protest Arrest of Colleagues; Detained Workers Undertake Hunger Strike
Haft Tappeh sugar cane workers held a protest rally on Tuesday, November 4, in response to the continued detention of four of their colleagues.
The Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Workers’ Syndicate announced the news through its Telegram channel, stating that workers gathered at the company premises for the fifth day in protest of the unlawful arrest of Ibrahim Abbasi Manjazi, Masoud Hayouri, Hamid Mobini, and Youssef Bahmani.
The syndicate also condemned “any form of case-fabrication, threats, and intimidation of workers” and called for the immediate and unconditional release of the detainees.
Previously, it had been reported that four Haft Tappeh sugar cane workers were arrested by police forces following their participation in a protest rally on Thursday, October 30.
Ismail Bakhshi, a labor activist who had himself been detained recently, announced the hunger strike of the arrested Haft Tappeh workers in a tweet, writing that these workers “have undertaken a hunger strike in protest of the continuation of their unlawful detention and the lack of attention to their case in the Shush District Court.”
In recent years, the Islamic Republic authorities have used security measures in response to labor protests, including those by Haft Tappeh workers, and have sentenced some protesting workers and members of the Haft Tappeh Workers’ Syndicate, such as labor activist Ali Najati, to lengthy prison terms.
The United States has repeatedly condemned Iran’s security crackdown on workers. The U.S. State Department’s Persian-language Twitter account previously posted a message stating: “With the expenses the Islamic Republic regime has incurred in Syria, it could have paid the wages of workers in Iran.”
Source: Voice of America
