Iran Teachers Guild Protests Long-Term Prison Sentence for Teacher
The Iran Teachers Guild protested the issuance of a 10-year prison sentence for Ismail Abdi, a member of the guild’s board of directors, and called for the release of all imprisoned teachers.
On Thursday, Ordibehesht 25, the Iran Teachers Guild issued a statement announcing that the notification of a new 10-year prison sentence and the reopening of the closed case of Ismail Abdi—regarding whom the guild states the plaintiff’s representative also expressed ignorance of the case being reopened—is considered “not only an action aimed at suppressing labor activists and civil institutions [but] a form of obstruction by experts and mid-level officials against these activists, and a clear opposition to any positive steps to improve prison conditions and prisoners, particularly labor and political activists.”
Based on available information, Hossein Taj, Ismail Abdi’s lawyer, announced on Monday, Ordibehesht 15, in interviews with domestic Iranian news agencies regarding the latest situation of this imprisoned labor activist educator in Iran that in recent days, upon referring to the office of execution of verdicts at Tehran Security Court, a 10-year suspended prison sentence for Ismail Abdi for charges of “propaganda activity against the system” and “action against national security” was notified to this lawyer.
The Iran Teachers Guild also stated regarding the renewed transfer of this labor activist to prison that following the outbreak of coronavirus disease and the resulting threats to life, it was announced with much fanfare that prisoners, including political prisoners, would be granted leave and some of them would also be pardoned. It was expected that this measure would continue at least until the threat to life was eliminated and the situation stabilized, and that these prisoners would not be recalled to prison; but unfortunately, once again by breaking promises and failing to adhere to what is announced in official media broadcasts, first Ismail Abdi and then Mahmoud Beheshti were arrested and returned to prison.
Ismail Abdi, a imprisoned teacher in Iran who was serving his sentence in Evin Prison, was released on leave in late Esfand of last year following the outbreak of coronavirus in Iranian prisons and on Tuesday, Ordibehesht 2, when he went to the Evin Prison judicial office to extend his leave, was re-arrested and sent to prison. His arrest brought reactions from many institutions, including the Solidarity and Struggle Global Syndicate Network.
In the conclusion of its statement, the Teachers Guild considered the pressures exerted on labor activists among educators over the past two decades as “deepening teachers’ connection to the guild” and stated that these pressures “have made them more determined in taking steps on the path of justice-seeking and organizational independence.”
Previously, Ismail Abdi, who on Tir 6, 1394 [June 27, 2015] intended to travel to Canada as a representative of the Coordination Council of Teachers’ Professional Organizations across the country to participate in a global teachers’ conference, was arrested and in a primary court hearing in Bahman of the same year was sentenced to 6 years in prison, and the verdict issued by Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals was upheld.
Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State, on Wednesday, Farvardin 6, at a press conference said: “Not only from Syria, but from the Islamic Republic of Iran we have also asked to release not only American citizens, but all those who have been unjustly imprisoned. This is a humanitarian measure and beyond the fact that these individuals have been illegally imprisoned, in these circumstances humanitarian principles dictate that they should be released from prison.”
Source: Voice of America
