Latest situation of detained workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company, interview with one of the dismissed workers

The 17th day of protests by workers at the Haft Tapeh Sugar Company continues, while despite the release of 15 of the protesting workers by the Islamic Republic's security and law enforcement agencies, 4 of the workers and a student and civil activist are still in detention.

Ali Nejati, a dismissed worker and board member of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Workers' Union, said in an interview with Voice of America on November 19: The number of people arrested in the protests by the workers of the "Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company" was 20, of which fifteen were released on bail around midnight on Monday, November 19. Four other arrested workers, Esmaeil Bakhshi, Mohammad Khanifer, Muslim Armand, and Seyyed Hassan Fazeli, along with student and civil activist Sepideh Gholian, are still in detention, and there is no information about their whereabouts.

Workers at Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Plant have been on strike since November 25, protesting the non-payment of their overdue wages for more than three months. The protesters believe that the private sector employer is incapable of managing the factory and that the workers' council can run the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Plant better than the employer.

Ali Nejati told VOA: Farzaneh Zeilabi, the lawyer for the workers of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company, who has been representing the Haft Tappeh workers' case for nearly a year, was told when she went to court and met with judicial officials that her name was not on the list of lawyers approved by the judiciary.