Arrest of Ali Nejati, a member of the Haft Tapeh Workers' Union
Ali Nejati, a member of the Haft Tapeh Sugarcane Company workers' union, was arrested by security agents this morning, Thursday, November 29.
Farzaneh Zeilabi, a lawyer for the Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers, told ILNA that Nejati was arrested this morning at his home. According to the lawyer, officers entered Nejati's home "without an arrest warrant" and arrested him.
ILNA, citing “a judicial official from Khuzestan” – without mentioning his name – wrote that Nejati’s arrest “probably has no connection to the Haft Tappeh workers’ gatherings and is related to another case.”
At the same time, some human rights websites, including HRANA, reported, citing an "informed source," that after Nejati and his family asked the officers to provide a court order, "they were mistreated and beaten."
Nejati is one of the labor activists who has been summoned or arrested many times before. He was arrested in September 2015 and released from prison after more than a month on bail of 100 million Tomans.
Mr. Nejati had previously spoken to VOA about the situation of Haft Tappeh workers. On November 20, he told VOA that the number of people arrested in the protests by workers at the Haft Tappeh Sugar Company was 20, of which 15 were released on bail around midnight on Monday, November 19. Four other arrested workers, Esmaeil Bakhshi, Mohammad Khanifar, Muslim Armand, and Seyyed Hassan Fazeli, along with Sepideh Gholian, a student and civil activist, are still in detention, and there is no information about their whereabouts.
After this conversation, a number of workers were released, but Bakhshi and Ms. Qolyan remained imprisoned.
Nejati's arrest comes as workers at the Haft Tapeh Sugarcane Company continue their protests. They are seeking to achieve their demands by gathering in front of the Susa governorate and going on strike.
The salaries of the workers of the Haft Tapeh Sugarcane Company had been delayed for four months. After the workers protested, two months of their salaries were deposited into their accounts, and government officials have promised that the remaining salaries will be deposited into the workers' accounts by next month.
Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers are also demanding the cancellation of the privatization of the factory and its management by a workers' council.
Previously, the Free Union of Iranian Workers had reported, citing some workers at the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company, that members of the Susa City Security Council, in a meeting with members of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Workers' Representative Assembly, had "pressured and threatened" them and asked them to declare the workers' "end of the strike."
This week, Iran's Judiciary Chief Sadegh Amoli Larijani said that those who want to "exploit the workers' demands and disrupt the country's order" should be dealt with.
Source: Voice of America
