Tehran Prosecutor Opposes Conditional Release Request for Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroodi, Imprisoned Teacher
The Tehran prosecutor has opposed the conditional release request for Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroodi, a teachers’ union activist and spokesperson for the Teachers’ Syndicalist Organization.
Hosein Taj, the defense lawyer for Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroodi, told ILNA news agency and Iran Labor News Agency that the conditional release request for Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroodi, which had been submitted to the prosecutor’s office with the approval of prison officials and guards, was rejected by the Tehran prosecutor.
This opposition occurred despite the fact that, according to available information, Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroodi has already served nearly three years of his five-year sentence in prison, and according to Article 58 of the Islamic Penal Code, this teachers’ union activist is eligible for conditional release after serving one-third of his sentence.
Hosein Taj, Beheshti Langaroodi’s lawyer, while pointing to the resubmission of this request to the prosecutor’s office, expressed hope that “the prosecutor, given his client’s circumstances, will approve it.”
Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroodi was first arrested in 2004 during the expansion of the teachers’ movement and spent 31 days in detention. He was again arrested on March 14, 2007, during a gathering of teachers in front of parliament and was sentenced to four years in prison by a court presided over by Judge Solwati.
This teachers’ union activist was arrested again in spring 2010 following a hunger strike in protest of the treatment of imprisoned union activists by security agencies, and was sentenced to five years in prison. He was also arrested in summer 2015 after widespread protests by teachers and was sentenced to five years in prison by a court presided over by Judge Moghisseh.
He is currently sentenced to a total of 14 years in prison, but according to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, the total of his executable sentences is five years.
Abouzar Beheshti Langaroodi, the son of Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroodi, previously told Voice of America that despite the completion of one-third of his father’s sentence, authorities have still not approved his conditional release request.
Previously, five French trade unions in an open letter addressed to the leader of the Islamic Republic called for the immediate and unconditional release of all imprisoned male and female activists, including Esmail Abdi and Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroodi, imprisoned teachers.
Currently, Mohammad Habibi, Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroodi, and Esmail Abdi are among the teachers’ union activists serving time in prison.
The treatment of protesting teachers and their arrest by security forces has previously been met with protests from human rights and union organizations, which had called on Iran to release these teachers from prison.
The U.S. State Department has repeatedly condemned violent treatment and widespread suppression of protesters as well as repeated and continuous violations of the rights of Iranian citizens, including labor rights activists and union activists, by the ruling regime of that country.
Source: Voice of America
