Demand The Release Of Iranian Trade Unionists.

international | worker & community struggles and protests | press release Tuesday August 31, 2010 22:00 by John Cornford - Hands Off The People of Iran

Instead of being released Mansour Osanloo has been sentenced to a further year in prison. Reza Shahabi was arrested and is held incommunicado. The long night of repression for Iranian Trade Unionists continues. But you can act and make a difference. Send the sample letter at the end of this article to address' provided.

Mansour Osanloo, president of the board of directors of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (a public transit company owned by Tehran Municipal government with about 17000 employees) has been sentenced this week to one year imprisonment by the City of Karaj Islamic Revolutionary Court 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. Osanloo had also been charged with "connection with the opponents of the system". He has gone through all this in recent months while he has been in prison for the past three years.

Reza Shahabi, the Vahed Syndicate's Treasurer, was arrested on June 12, 2010 and is still imprisoned incommunicado. In a statement issued by Vahed Syndicate, serious concerns have been raised about Reza Shahabi's health and safety. The statement says: "Reza Shahabi, a member of the board of directors of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed), was arrested and imprisoned on June 12, 2010, and was only allowed to speak to his wife and children by telephone three times for the first month of his detention. In the telephone conversations with the family, he indicated that he suffered from neck and back injuries. Since then nobody has gained any information about his situation. The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed), which was established to defend workers' basic rights, condemns the arrest and the denial of information about its member and demands his immediate and unconditional release. "

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.

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