Haft Tappeh workers' lawyer sentenced to prison and banned from leaving the country

By a verdict of the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court, Farzaneh Zeilabi, the lawyer defending the protesting workers of the Havatapeh Company, has been sentenced to one year in prison and a two-year ban on leaving the country.

Nasser Zarafshan, Ms. Zeilabi's lawyer, said that the court verdict convicted her of "propaganda against the system." He emphasized that the verdict is "a punishment for defending workers."

The lawyer's accusations were raised in May of this year, and the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Workers' Union called these accusations "case-making" and "a scheming process."

Haft Tappeh Agriculture and Industry is the oldest sugar factory in Iran, and it has been established for about half a century. The company has faced wider problems since 2015 after being transferred to the private sector, and the company's workers have held protest rallies many times in recent months.

These protest rallies resulted in some workers being sentenced to prison, and despite the cancellation of the company's privatization order, judicial and security clashes with protesters continue.

Source: Radio Farda