Two New Charges Against Ali Nejati, Retired Haft Tappeh Worker

Ali Nejati’s defense lawyer, a retired worker detained during Haft Tappeh workers’ gatherings, announced that two new charges have been brought against her client.

Farzaneh Zillabi told Iran’s official news agency IRNA on Tuesday about the latest situation of Ali Nejati, a retired worker who was arrested by security police on December 8, stating that her client was detained for serving a previous conviction titled “propaganda against the state” and new charges related to “strikes and gatherings of Haft Tappeh workers.”

Nejati is among labor activists who have previously been summoned or detained multiple times. He was also arrested in September 2015 and released from prison after more than a month with a bail of 100 million tomans.

Mr. Nejati’s lawyer announced that the new charges against her client are: one charge of “disrupting public order through directing the flow of strikes and gatherings at Haft Tappeh Sugar Company” and another “security-related” charge, which according to her client’s statement is titled “propaganda against the state” and is under investigation. Both charges against this imprisoned worker are filed at the first branch of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office.

While the judicial system of the Islamic Republic has not yet issued a verdict on these new charges and despite his history of heart disease, Mr. Nejati was referred to Dezful Prison after his arrest for record registration and later transferred to the security detention facility in Ahvaz.

Ali Nejati’s lawyer stated that due to his illness and after being transferred to the hospital, he was forced to be moved to the security ward of Dezful Prison on December 24, but according to the statement of the prosecutor of the first branch of Shush Prosecutor’s Office, his temporary detention order remains in place and he has only had a few phone calls with his family so far.

This legal counsel requested that her client be referred to forensic medicine to implement Article 502 of the Criminal Procedure Code, but according to her, “unfortunately, in violation of the law, by making it conditional on the new security case, this matter has remained unaddressed.”

However, the continued detention of Ali Nejati takes place while the Islamic Republic has conducted widespread arrests of protesting Ahvaz Steel workers since Sunday, with labor sources reporting 41 detained workers.

Previously, international bodies had supported labor gatherings in Iran. In the latest case, Robert Palladino, Deputy Spokesman of the U.S. State Department, expressed regret on Twitter on Monday about the arrest of steel workers in Iran for demanding their wages and said that Iran’s ruling regime constantly violates people’s rights.

The United Nations also passed a resolution protesting widespread human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The resolution states: Over the past year, the suppression of journalists, social media users, and protesters in Iran has increased.

Source: Voice of America