Continued Security Crackdowns on Workers in Iran; Emad Kasir, One of Haft Tappeh Workers, Arrested
In ongoing security crackdowns against labor protests in Iran, worker sources reported that one of the Haft Tappeh sugar cane workers has been arrested by the Shush security and intelligence police.
The Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Workers’ Syndicate reported that on the morning of Wednesday, October 23, Shush security and intelligence police “raided” the home of “Emad Kasir,” a Haft Tappeh sugar cane worker, and arrested him along with his personal belongings, including his mobile phone.
According to the report, Kasir was transferred to Shush security police following his arrest.
This is not the first time reports of raids by officials to arrest Haft Tappeh workers have been published.
Previously, Farzaneh Zilaabi, a lawyer representing several Haft Tappeh workers, stated on Sunday, October 19, that “security officials raided the home of Mohammad Khanifer’s sister, one of the Haft Tappeh workers, in an inappropriate manner to arrest him, and also attempted to apprehend Ibrahim Abbasi Manjazi and Yousef Bahmei, who were not present at home.”
The lawyer stated that after this incident, upon referring to the public and revolutionary prosecutor’s office of Shush district, it was determined that in the previously mentioned cases against her clients, “no arrest warrant has been issued” and “no new case has been registered in the system against them.”
The Haft Tappeh workers’ protests began extensively in 2018, but these protests faced security and judicial crackdowns by the government. Ismail Bakhshi, a representative of Haft Tappeh workers, was among those workers who, after arrest, announced that he had been tortured and was arrested for the second time in February of last year.
The United States has repeatedly condemned the security crackdowns by Iran’s ruling regime against workers. The U.S. State Department recently stated in a message that the Islamic Republic regime could have paid workers’ wages in Iran with the expenses it has spent in Syria.
Source: Voice of America
