A Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Worker Arrested by Security Forces

Labor sources report that a Haft Tappeh sugarcane worker has been arrested by security forces.

The Telegram channel of the Campaign to Defend Haft Tappeh Detainees and Progressive Prisoners reported on Sunday, October 5, that Youssef Bahmani, one of the Haft Tappeh workers, has been “arrested by the Shush Security Police.”

Further details about this worker’s arrest have not been released; however, according to the Telegram channel, Mr. Bahmani was summoned to the Shush Security Police on the third day of the Haft Tappeh sugarcane strikes along with several other workers.

According to this report, security agencies also made successive threatening calls to a number of striking workers on Sunday.

Previously, the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Workers’ Syndicate reported that approximately 40 Haft Tappeh workers have been summoned to report to the Shush Security Information Police by Monday, September 29.

Protest by Haft Tappeh workers began extensively from 2018, but these protests have been met with security and judicial crackdowns by the government. Ismail Bakhshi, representative of Haft Tappeh workers, was among the workers who, following his arrest, announced that he had been tortured and was arrested for a second time last February.

The United States has repeatedly condemned Iran’s security crackdown on workers. The U.S. State Department said in a statement that the Islamic Republic regime could have paid workers’ wages in Iran with the costs it has incurred in Syria.

Source: Voice of America