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Members of the Coordinating Committee targeted
August 11, 2010- According to a statement issues by
the Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers' Organizations on August
9, 2010, two labour activists and members of this committee, Vafa Ghaderi
and Sediq Sobhani, were put on trial at the City of Sanandaj Court. They
are charged with "acting against national security" by means of
participating in a picnic in support of jailed workers on December 4,
2009. During this event, 12 other labour activists were arrested and
beaten. Vafa Ghaderi and Sediq Sobhani were subsequently released on a
heavy bail of 100 million toman (almost $100,000). They are now awaiting
the verdict.
In addition, seven other labour activists and members
of the "Coordinating Committee" in City of Oshnovieh, named
Fatah Soleymani, Isah Ebrahimzadeh, Abbas Hashempour, Hossein Pirouti,
Rahman Ebrahimzadeh, Samad Ahadpour and Rahman Tanha were tried on August
1, 2010 at the Oromieh Islamic Revolutionary Court. They are charged with
membership in an opposition political group by way of membership in the
Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers' Organization. The
"Coordinating Committee" is a well-known independent labour
organization and these allegations are totally baseless and all the above
mentioned activists have completely rejected allegations against them.
The Coordinating Committee has been trying to register itself as an
independent labour organization with the Ministry of Labour but
government authorities have refused to accept their application.
Moreover, Mr. Kaveh Gol Mohammadi, another member of the Coordinating
Committee, was transferred to Sanandaj's Central prison on July 31, 2010
to serve his four month jail sentence for his membership with this labour
organization.
Sample Protest
Letter (Updated August 11, 2010):
Free Tehran bus workers'
leaders now
Free all jailed workers
now
I (we) am (are) writing this to demand an immediate
and unconditional freedom of all imprisoned representatives and members
of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company and the
Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers' Organizations and other
independent labour activists in Iran.
As of this time, three leaders and elected
representatives of Vahed Syndicate are in prison:. Mansour Osanloo,
Syndicate's president of the board of director (serving five year jail
sentence since 2007, Ebrahim Madadi, Vice-President (serving 3.5 year jail
sentence since late 2007); and Reza Shahabi, Treasurer (arrested on June
12, 2010).
In addition, I (we) have been informed that Mansour
Osanloo has been sentenced to one year imprisonment by the City of Karaj
Islamic Revolutionary Court on August 10, 2010 for "propaganda
against the system". Mr. Osanloo has been subject to increasing
harassment in recent months and was put on trial recently at Karaj
Revolutionary court. He has gone through all this while he has been jailed
for the past three years.
Mr. Saeed Torabian, Public Relations director of the
Syndicate, was arrested and detained on June 9, 2010 and released on
heavy bail on July 20, 2010. Mr. Torabian is charged with "acting
against national security" and "propaganda against the
system". Reza Shahabi has been held incommunicado in the Evin
prison and his family are extremely concerned about his condition.
Moreover, many member of the Coordinating Committee to
Help Form Workers' Organization in different cities have been targeted
and persecuted by authorities and are facing charges and jail sentences. There
are many other independent labour activists in prisons and/or persecuted.
Behnam Alizadeh and Mehdi Farahi Shandiz are jailed labour activist
arrested on respectively on June 12, 2010 in Tehran and transferred to
Evin prison and on June 8, 2010 and transferred to the deadly Kahrizak
prison. Mr. Kaveh Gol Mohammadi, a member of the Coordinating Committee, have
been transferred to Sanandaj's Central prison on July 31, 2010 to serve
his four month sentence for his membership with this labour organization.
I (we) demand immediate and unconditional freedom of
Osanloo, Madadi and Shahabi, Alizadeh, Farahi Shandiz, Gol Mohammadi and
others. I (we) condemn this new round of attack against Tehran bus
workers' union and the Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers' Organizations
and the continuous gross attacks on human and workers’ rights in Iran. I
(we) demand the immediate and unconditional freedom of all labour
activists and political prisoners and call on the government to respect
the right to organize, assemble and freedom of association and
expression.
Name:
Organization:
Position:
Send Copy of your Protest Letters to:
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
CC: [email protected]
_______________________________________
International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran
(IASWI)
[email protected]
www.etehadbinalmelali.com
www.workers-iran.org
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