Following Labor Protests | 7 Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Workers Sentenced to Imprisonment and Flogging

Reports indicate that several Haft Tappeh workers were sentenced in a court in the city of Shush to eight months of suspended imprisonment and flogging.

The independent Haft Tappeh workers channel on Telegram announced this news stating that a number of Haft Tappeh workers were sentenced in Shush court to eight months of suspended imprisonment and 20 lashes.

This source of news regarding Haft Tappeh workers did not specify the number of convicted workers, however the ILNA news agency reported the number as 7 workers.

The issuance of flogging and suspended imprisonment sentences for Haft Tappeh workers comes at a time when the trial of Ismail Bakhshi, Sepideh Qolian, and several other labor activists is ongoing in the Tehran Revolutionary Court.

ILNA also reported that 10 workers from the Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Complex must appear before the Shush Judiciary on Wednesday, August 23rd; two of these ten workers are members of the Islamic Workers Council of this industrial unit.

Apparently, these court cases are related to last year’s protests by Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane workers.

Workers at “Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane” went on strike starting November 26th of last year in protest of non-payment of their wages overdue for more than three months. The protesters believed that the private sector employer lacks the ability to manage the factory and that the workers’ council could manage the Haft Tappeh sugar cane complex better than the employer.

However, in response, security forces dealt with these labor protests violently. While months have passed since these protests, the workers’ demands remain unmet and arrests and security measures against labor activists and Haft Tappeh workers continue.

Source: Voice of America