Case of Mohammad Habibi, Teachers’ Rights Activist, Sent to Appeals Court

One of Mohammad Habibi’s lawyers, a detained teacher and activist for educators’ rights, announced that his client’s case has been sent to the appeals court.

Hossein Taj, Habibi’s lawyer, said on Monday, September 26, to ILNA news agency that he is waiting for the appeals court division to be specified so he can file a request to change the detention order to bail and defend his client.

Mohammad Habibi, a member of the board of directors of the Teachers’ Professional Association of Tehran Province, has been sentenced to 10.5 years in prison and 74 lashes on charges of gathering and conspiracy to commit crimes against national security, propaganda against the system, and disturbing public order. Seven and a half years of his imprisonment are enforceable if the appeals court does not change the verdict.

The prison and lashing sentence for this teachers’ rights activist has sparked widespread criticism both inside and outside Iran.

On Saturday, five French trade union federations sent an open letter to the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, urging him to pay special attention to the situation of “Mohammad Habibi,” an imprisoned teacher.

The letter signatories, while pointing to the situation of this teachers’ union activist who is deprived of proper medical services, called for his immediate release.

Labor activists in France also called in their letter for the immediate release of “all imprisoned male and female activists, including Esmail Abbadi and Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroudi, imprisoned teachers.”

Last June, the International Organization for Education, the world’s largest teachers’ union, issued a statement condemning the arrest of Mohammad Habibi, a union activist and member of the board of directors of the Teachers’ Professional Association of Tehran Province, Esmail Abbadi, a teachers’ union activist, and other imprisoned teachers, and called for their release.

Source: Voice of America