Five-Year Prison Sentence of Labor Day Detainee Upheld by Appeals Court
The five-year prison sentence of Hasan Saeedi, one of the detainees arrested on International Workers’ Day and a member of the Vahed Company Syndicate, which was previously issued by the Revolutionary Court, has been upheld in full by the Appeals Court.
The Telegram channel of the Vahed Bus Company Workers’ Syndicate of Tehran and Suburbs announced on Monday, December 30, that the verdict of five years imprisonment and a ban on using smart communication devices such as smartphones, as well as a two-year prohibition on membership in political and social parties, groups, and organizations, which was issued by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court, has been upheld in full by Branch 36 of the Appeals Court, despite the court session being held in absentia without the presence of Hasan Saeedi and his lawyer.
Seyyed Mostafa Razavi, the lawyer of this labor activist, considered the holding of the court session in absentia as unusual and said that although in cases with long-term imprisonment sentences, court sessions are held and the lawyer’s arguments are heard, “they announced without holding a session to come to court.”
This lawyer also announced that following the confirmation of Hasan Saeedi’s sentence by the Appeals Court, he will file a complaint with the Supreme Court and hopes that this sentence will be overturned.
The Vahed Bus Company Workers’ Syndicate of Tehran and Suburbs, while condemning the confirmation of the unjust and oppressive sentence of Hasan Saeedi by the Appeals Court, has called for the cancellation of sentences issued against this syndicate member and all workers, teachers, and labor supporters in detention.
Hasan Saeedi was arrested on May 1, 2024, coinciding with International Workers’ Day, along with several other labor, cultural, and student activists by security forces. After 33 days, he was temporarily released from Evin Prison on a bail of 330 million tomans pending the completion of legal proceedings.
Recently, Voice of America reported that Sepideh Qolian, Ismail Bakhshi, Mohammad Khanifer, Amir Amirgoli, Amirhossein Mohammadiford, Sanaz Elahyari, Asal Mohammadi, Atefeh Rangariz, and Marzieh Amiri, nine labor rights activists, have been sentenced to a total of 50 years in prison by the Appeals Court.
Following the International Workers’ Day gatherings in Tehran, at least 30 people were arrested. After these arrests, the U.S. State Department criticized the arrest of Iran’s labor activists on International Workers’ Day in a Twitter message.
The U.S. State Department has repeatedly condemned violent confrontations and widespread suppression of protesters in various cases, as well as the repeated and continuous violation of Iranian citizens’ rights by the ruling regime of that country.
Philip Luther, director of West Asia and North Africa research at Amnesty International, emphasized in the latest Amnesty International report that the world should not remain silent in the face of continued widespread human rights violations aimed at suppressing dissidents by Iranian authorities.
Source: Voice of America
