Nine Sweeper Workers of Ahvaz Municipality were Arrested After Protest

In recent days, 9 workers in District 3 of Ahvaz Municipality were arrested by police following a strike .

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Asr-e-Junub News, the protest was over the workers’ not having received their job benefits.

The mayor of District 3 of Ahvaz expressed he was not informed about the detention of these workers, adding that “The municipality deals with a third-party contractor, not the workers, and the contractor has been paid”.

As of this writing, two of the nine workers, Davoodi and Mansouri, are still in custody.

Ali Allah Veisi Still Detained in Unknown Location One Month after Being Arrested Without a Court Order

Ali Allah Veisi, a citizen from Sanandaj, is still in detention one month after being arrested by security forces without a court order.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Kurdpa, Allah Veisi was arrested in the Sanandaj bazaar in Kurdistan Province on May 8 and then taken to an unknown location.

“So far, Allah Veisi’s family has been unsuccessful in finding information about the detainee’s condition,” an informed source said, per the report. “Mr. Allah Veisi has been deprived of having a lawyer and family visits during his detention.”

As of this writing, the reasons for the arrest and the charges against Allah Veisi are unknown.

Reports Indicate the Death of Sasan Niknafs in Prison; The Family is Worried and Waiting for Prison Officials to Respond

As of Monday, June 7, reports indicate that political prisoner Sasan Niknafs has died in the Greater Tehran Prison due to medical negligence.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, prison officials significantly delayed sending Mr. Niknafs to a properly-equipped hospital outside the prison, despite the clear urgency of his condition.

Niknafs has long suffered from diseases such as diabetes, fatty liver, gastritis, high blood pressure, and psychological problems.

The political prisoner was finally transferred to the prison’s health center two days ago where he reportedly died.

Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals sentenced Niknafs to eight years in prison on charges of conspiracy against the country’s security, propaganda against the regime, and insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic and the leadership. 5 years of imprisonment applied to him after applying article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code.

36-year-old Niknafs, father of two girls aged 8 and 9, endured eleven months of incarceration in poor physical and psychological condition. According to his lawyer, during a recent meeting, the effects of self-harm were visible on his hands.

Prison authorities have not officially announced the news of his death at the time of this writing despite repeated inquiries from his family and lawyer.

 

 

Heydar Ghorbani Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison

Labor activist Heydar Ghorbani was sentenced to 11 years in prison by the Second Branch of the Revolutionary Court of Shahriar County.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting The Free Union of Iranian Workers, Ghorbani is from Kamyaran in Kurdistan Province.

Ghorbani is a construction worker and a member of the Free Trade Union of Iran.

According to the report, the labor activist was sentenced on charges of “membership in a group or population or a branch of a population formed within the country to disrupt the security of the country” and “propaganda against the Islamic Republic”.

 

HRANA Recap: This Week’s Protests in Iran

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, a number of protests took place in different parts of the country this week. Below is a quick recap and footage from the demonstrations.

 

Saturday, May 29

 

On Saturday, May 29, A group of farmers in Ahvaz city held a rally in front of the Khuzestan governor’s building near the Salman water supply canal to protest water shortages. Teachers of Green Result-Letter rallied in front of the Ministry of Education building in Tehran. Staff of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Karaj gathered after receiving inaccurate salary payments in the hospital area. Izeh preschool teachers rallied in the city’s education building and protested uncertainty over their employment status. Persian Gulf Holding staff protested in front of the gate of the special Mahshahr site. Protestors called on their demands to be addressed.

 

Farmers in Ahvaz city and rural areas:

 

 

Teachers of Green Result-Letter:

 

 

Staff of Imam Khomeini Hospital:

 

 

Izeh preschool teachers:

 

 

Workers from the Persian Gulf Holding:

 

 

Sunday, May 30

 

On June 30, farmers from different villages of Ahvaz city held a rally for the second consecutive day in front of the Khuzestan governor’s building. Retirees of Khuzestan Steel Company held rallies in several cities including Tehran, Ahvaz, Isfahan, and Rudbar in front of their cities’ Civil Servants Pension Fund buildings. A group of teachers and staff of non-profit schools from different cities gathered in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly building in Tehran, in front of the Education Department in Isfahan. Several professors at Azad University in Ahvaz, Shiraz, and Isfahan rallied in front of the campus buildings of their towns. Several fired workers of Mahshahr Petroleum Products Distribution Company gathered in front of the entrance of the oil depot of this city. Bankrupted investors in Caspian Financial Institution rallied in front of the Judiciary building in Tehran. Villagers of Bloband from the Kharqan section of Zarandieh city in Markazi Province held rallies as well.

 

Farmers from different villages of Ahvaz:

 

 

Retirees of Khuzestan Steel Company:

 

 

Tehran

 

 

Khuzestan province

 

 

Teachers and staff of non-profit schools in Tehran and Isfahan:

 

 

Azad University Protesters:

 

Ahvaz

 

Shiraz

 

 

Isfahan

 

 

 

Fired workers of Mahshahr Petroleum Products Distribution:

 

 

Bankrupted investors in Caspian Financial Institution:

 

 

Monday, May 31

 

Several employees of the Persian Gulf Holding Oil protested in front of Mahshahr Petrochemical Site 4. A group of teachers rallied in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly building in Tehran. Service staff of the National Iranian Drilling Camp protested in Ahvaz. Staff of Imam Hospital Khomeini protested in Karaj. A group of temporarily employed staff of Mahshahr Petrochemical Special Zone and Bandar Imam held rallies.

 

Employees of the Persian Gulf Holding Oil:

 

 

Temporary employees of Mahshahr Petrochemical:

 

Service staff of the National Iranian Drilling Camp in Ahvaz:

 

Staff at Imam Khomeini Hospital in Karaj:

 

 

Tuesday, June 1

 

A group of Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane workers protested in front of the management office complex. A group of landowners in the new city of Pardis gathered in front of the Judiciary building, several of whom lost money to the Mehr View Housing project in Tabriz, at the project’s site.  Masjed-e-Soleiman ranchers who lost their livestock to sewage water pollution of Masjed Soleiman Petrochemical protested the devastating oversight.  A group of bus drivers in the bus terminal of Shiraz held protest rallies and called on their demands to be addressed.

 

Landowners in the new city of Pardis:

 

 

Masjed-e-Soleiman ranchers:

 

 

Mehr View Housing project:

 

 

Bus drivers in Shiraz:

 

 

Wednesday, June 2

 

Workers of Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane gathered in front of the complex’s management building for the second day in a row and protested. A group of Ahwaz Water and Wastewater personnel rallied in front of the company’s building.

 

Workers of Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane (Day 2) :

 

 

Thursday, June 3

 

Workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Cane, who say they have not yet received their salaries for the past two months, rallied for the third day in a row in the company’s yard. Police responded violently to the demonstration. In Tehran, BRT bus drivers  rallied to call on their demands to be addressed.

 

Workers of Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane (Day 3):

 

 

 

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 Political Prisoner Soheil Arabi Faced with New Charges

On May 31, Soheil Arabi, a prisoner of conscience in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj, was taken to a virtual arraignment hearing on new charges.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Branch 3 of the Evin Prosecutor’s Office held the hearing and charged Arabi with “propaganda activities against the regime and disturbing the public opinion”.

Mr. Arabi was accused of creating reports on the poor condition of the Greater Tehran Penitentiary, criticizing the conduct of prison authorities, especially the prison’s assistant prosecutor, going on a hunger strike to support political prisoners deprived of  medical treatment, and writing statements in support of the nationwide protests of November 2019.

Arabi was punitively transferred from the Greater Tehran Prison to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj last September. He was then summoned and acquitted by Branch 8 of the Shahr-e-Shahri Prosecutor’s Office for another lawsuit in December.

Soheil Arabi has been imprisoned since November 2013 and has been deprived of leaves of absence throughout his entire imprisonment.

Mohammad Turkmani Punitively Transferred to the Ward of Prisoners Accused of Violent Crimes in Greater Tehran Prison

On June 1, political prisoner Mohammad Turkmani was punitively transferred to section 4 of the Greater Tehran Prison. Turkmani is currently being held alongside prisoners accused of violent crimes.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the transfer was made in violation of the principle of separation of prisoners based on crime.

Turkmani has been serving a five-year sentence in the Greater Tehran Prison since February of this year.

In 2019, the political prisoner was sentenced by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Judge Salavati, to seven years and six months in prison on charges of insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic, insulting the leadership, propaganda against the regime, and blasphemy.

The applicable sentence was reduced to five years in prison by the court of appeals.

The principle of separating prisoners accused of violent crimes is not without precedent; Hossein Hashemi, another political prisoner who was punitively transferred to section 4, was violently beaten by cellmates on June 2.

Detained Citizen Dies in Buchan Prison After Prison Officials Refuse to Send Him to Hospital

Nasser Karimi, a citizen detained in Buchan city, died due to medical negligence on June 1 after being transferred to the city prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Kurdpa, Nasser Karimi was the son of Qader and a resident of Nowbar village in Buchan County of West Azerbaijan Province.

He was arrested on May 1 by the police of Criminal Investigation on financial charges.

The report quoted an informed source saying that “Mr. Karimi was in critical condition after being transferred to Buchan Prison, but prison officials refused to send him to a health center or hospital outside the prison.”

The source added, “Buchanan prison officials said the cause of death was cardiac arrest and that the body was transferred to Urmia forensic medicine for autopsy.”

Karimi’s body has not been delivered to his family yet.

 

Death Sentence Issued in Ilam

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Rokna News, Ilam province police commander Delavar al-Qasi-mehr announced the issuance of a sentence for a defendant in Darreh Shahr in Ilam Province.

The commander said that this man, who is accused of killing several of his relatives, a conscripted soldier, and a law enforcement officer in 2020, was sentenced to death three times over by the First Branch of the Criminal Court of Ilam Province.

Arjang Davoodi Transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj in Eighteenth Year of Imprisonment

Last week, 69-year-old political prisoner Arjang Davoodi was transferred from Zahedan Prison in Sistan and Baluchestan Province to the Greater Tehran Penitentiary and then to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, in 2016  Mr. Davoodi was transferred to Zabol and then Zahedan Prisons in Sistan and Baluchestan Province to serve his sentence in exile.

Davoodi is currently serving his 18th year in prison.