Six teachers' union activists sentenced to prison and flogging
Reports indicate that six teachers' union activists who were arrested during a union rally have been sentenced to prison and flogging.
According to the HRANA website, which publishes human rights news in Iran, these six people, who were arrested during a teachers' rally on May 10 of this year, were each sentenced by Branch 1060 of the Criminal Court to nine months in prison and a fine of 50,000 Tomans in lieu of 74 lashes.
According to the report, which was published on Monday, October 2, the convicted are Alia Eghmaddost, a member of the Retirees' Union, Rasoul Badaghi, a former inspector of the Tehran Teachers' Union, Esmaeil Gerami, Javad Zolnouri, Hossein Gholami, and Mohammad Abedi.
These individuals are charged with disrupting public order by participating in illegal gatherings and disobeying officers while on duty.
A May teachers' rally in front of the Planning and Budget Organization, held to express union problems, demand wage increases, and prevent the privatization of education, was met with a police raid. Those arrested at the rally were released on bail after being transferred to Evin Prison.
Another of those arrested at the rally was Mohammad Habibi, an educator union activist and board member of the Tehran Province Teachers Association, who was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison and 74 lashes, with a maximum sentence of seven and a half years being served under the law. His case went to the Court of Appeal last week.
The condemnation of union activists, especially teachers, has sparked global reactions.
Last September, five French labor unions wrote an open letter to the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, pointing out the violation of Mohammad Habibi's rights and asking him to pay special attention to the situation of this imprisoned teacher.
Labor union activists in France also called in their letter for the immediate and unconditional release of all imprisoned male and female activists, including imprisoned teachers Ismail Abdi and Mahmoud Beheshti Langroudi.
Last June, the International Education Organization, the world's largest teachers' union, issued a statement condemning the arrest of Mohammad Habibi, a union activist and board member of the Tehran Province Teachers' Union, Esmaeil Abdi, a teachers' union activist, and other imprisoned teachers, and called for their release.
Last month, the British Teachers' Union launched an online campaign calling for the international community to support the release of Ismail Abdi, a teacher imprisoned in Iran.
Source: Voice of America
