Mansour Osanloo Arrested
By unidentified plainclothes Agents!
November 19, 2006: This morning, Mr. Mansour Osanloo, the President of the Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, the first independent union in Iran after over 20 years and an affiliate of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), was arrested by plain clothes agents who refused to show any identification or arrest warrants. At the time of his arrest, Mr. Osanloo, along with Mr. Ebrahim Madadi the syndicate’s vice-President and Mansour Hayat Gheibi a syndicate’s board member, were on the way to the office of the Ministry of Labour in Tehran East for following up on their complaints concerning the dismissal of over 50 employees by the Company. On Farjam Street in Tehran, Mr. Osanloo decided to purchase a newspaper. While he was shopping, he was approached by about five plain clothes agents who told him he was under arrest. Osanloo asked them to show their identification cards and warrant for his arrest but they refused to do so and started beating and pulling him towards their vehicles. Osanloo shouted to Mr. Madadi, who was in the car, for help. Mr. Madadi approached agents immediately asking them to stop and show their identifications and arrest warrants but they also physically and verbally assaulted Mr. Madadi and one of them pointed a gun at him and also fired a bullet in the air. The agents finally forced Mr. Osanloo into a waiting vehicle and drove away.
Osanloo who had an eye operation last Thursday and his eye was heavily bandaged at time of his arrest was due to attend a court hearing tomorrow to answer charges leveled against him, and about 16 other union members, by state prosecutors regarding the bus workers’ job action last year.
In December 2005, Mr. Osanloo was arrested following a job action by members of his union. He was released on 150 million Toman (about $US 165,000) bail after about 8 months in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. Since his release on bail, he was under constant surveillance and ongoing harassment.
Neither his wife nor his attorney has any information regarding where Mr. Osanloo is taken. The news of Osanloo’s arrest has also been reported today by official news agencies including ILNA and ISNA. Mr. Madadi has given details of osanloo’s arrest in some interviews today. According to Madadi, he has received unconfirmed information that he would also be arrested shortly. He reported that the union has issued statements calling on workers’ and human rights’ organizations including the International Transport Workers’ Federation to condemn this brutal and illegal attack and arrest of Mr. Osanloo and demand the immediate release of Osanloo. The ever-increasing harassment and persecution of labour activists and members of the union must be stopped immediately.
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