Iran- More
Arrests and Harassments of Workers Following May Day Demonstrations
May 3, 2007- Numerous reports suggest that
scores of workers in Tehran and Sanandaj (the capital of Kurdistan Province)
have been detained in connection with the May Day demonstrations on May 1,
2007. Almost all May Day rallies and parades were attacked by the security
forces. Many of those arrested have since been released on bail. The arrest
warrants for the leaders of the National Union of Dismissed and Unemployed
Workers, Sheys Amani, Behzad Sohrabi and Khaled Savari have been issued. It is
reported that Mr. Amani, the President of the board of directors of the newly
formed National Union of Dismissed and Unemployed Workers, has been arrested on
May 2, 2007. And just a few hours ago, Mr. Khaled Savari, the deputy director
of the unemployed workers' union, was arrested in Sananadaj. Another board
member of this union, Mr. Sadigh Karimi, along with abut 9 other members of the
union, has been in custody since May first; when his sister appeared at the
police station 12 in Sanandaj to enquire about his situation she was severely
beaten by an officer. Behzad Sohrabi, a well-known labour activist in Iran, is also the spokesperson for a newly formed committee in Iran in defence of Mahmoud Salehi,
called Mahmoud Salehi Must be Freed. This committee has been formed by over 60
workers and labour activists in Iran,
and includes Salehi’s partner, Mrs. Najibeh Salehzadeh.
Other news: As was reported on May 1st,
Mansour Osanloo was attacked and beaten by security forces and his shoulder got
injured. Plain Clothe security agents tried to arrest Osanloo but Osanloo and
his colleagues and people witnessing it resisted and managed to free Osanloo.
After security forces' unsuccessful attempt to kidnap Osanloo (as he
has called it in an interview yesterday because they had no arrest
warrant), they arrested Mr. Yaghoob Salimi, a member of the board of directors
of the Vahed Syndicate, who had helped and protected Osanloo when he was
attacked, and transferred him to a police station in Tehran. Following that
incident, Osanloo, along with 30 other members of the Syndicate, staged a
sit-in in the Tehran Province Justice Department demanding Salimi's immediate
release as well as safety protection for activists of the union as they
are constantly under attack by security forces and plain clothe agents. Mr.
Salimi was released subsequently. The same night authorities cancelled the Vahed
Syndicate’s May Day celebration. Osanloo’s speech in a university in Tehran, which was initiated by student activists,
had also been cancelled by authorities.
Another member of the syndicate, Gholamreza Gholamhosseini, had a court hearing
on April 29, 2007 at the division 6 of Tehran
Revolutionary Court. Parviz Khorshid, his lawyer, has told ILNA news agency
that that Mr. Gholamhosseini has been accused of “the propaganda against the
establishment”. Mr. Khorshid has defended his client as being involved in
legitimate union activities as the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs
Bus Company is not an illegal organization. Gholamhosseini is also waiting for
the court’s verdict soon. Mr. Gholamreza Gholamhosseini, a union activist, a
member of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e
Vahed) and one of the 50 suspended employees of the company, who had previously
arrested on December 3, 2006 and was released on bail on December 9, 2006. Mr.
Gholamreza Gholamhosseini was in custody for about 6 days at the Tehran’s Police Station No. 2.
For more information:
[email protected]
www.workers-iran.org
http://www.etehadbinalmelali.com/INDEXI.htm
International Alliance in Support of
Workers in Iran