Teacher Union Activist Ahmad Taghavi Sentenced to Prison

Branch 103 of the Criminal Court of Abhar has sentenced teacher union activist Ahmad Taghavi (Naghavi) to one year in prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting the Independent Iranian Workers Union, teacher Union Activist Ahmad Taghavi was sentenced to one year in prison on the charge of “propaganda against the regime”. Taghavi was arrested on April 25, 2022. 

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for January 12, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on January 12th, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) Seyed Hassan Agha Miri, an Iranian cleric, was sentenced to defrocking and two years of suspended imprisonment because of his interviews and speeches in the governmental media.

(2) Reza Malek, a political prisoner in the Evin prison, has been denied medical care for his severe backache. He was sentenced to five years imprisonment for ‘disrupting the public mind’,’insulting the Supreme Leader’,and ‘propaganda against the state’.

(3) Three Kulbars (Kurdish back carriers) have been shot by the border patrol in Urmia and Baneh. Aghil Ebrahimi, Hassan Rasouli, and Hedayat Mohammadi were injured in this incident.

(4) In the past couple of days, a resident of Kamyaran and two residents of Oshnavieh who were arrested earlier, were released on bail. Two other residents of Sarvabad county and one resident of Sanandaj were arrested.

(5) An Azerbaijani minority rights activist, Ali Gholami, was summoned to the Revolutionary Court in Ardabil. He is a writer and poet who was arrested in the International Mother Language Day protest in 2018.

(6) In the past three years, 20 nurses have died because of overwork. Last week, a 24-year-old nurse died due to working long hours in the Fars province. Shortage of nurses in Iran impacts patient care and nurses’ health.

(7) The attorney of Kiyumars Marzban, author and satirist, confirmed that his case was sent to the Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court. He was arrested on August 26th. His charges are ‘propaganda against the state’ and ‘sulting the sacred’.

(8) Ahmad Taghavi, a retired teacher and a union activist, was released on bail today. He was arrested on December 24 for an unknown reason.

(9) A chemistry professor, Mehrorang Ghaedi, was exonerated of charges in Yasuj. The judge added that criticizing Iranian authorities would not be considered as ‘propaganda against the state’.

(10) Masoud Shamsnejad, a lawyer and professor, was arrested and has been transferred to the Intelligence Office while the security guards raided his home and confiscated his belongings. He was under pressure for the cases he accepted to defend.

(11) Masoud Kurdpour is a civil right activist who had been a teacher for 22 years and was laid off for his activism-related charges in 2009. He was exonerated by the appeal court but he is still banned from his profession. He has requested the president to help in his case.

(12) In a bus rollover in Gilan, 14 industrial workers were injured. Also, four workers died or were injured in Yazd, Tehran, and Zanjan because of negligence in the oversight of safety conditions.

(13) The workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Mill, Mas Home Appliance, and bankrupt Rasht Parsan Company have at least two months of unpaid wages.

(14) Mostafa Daneshjou, the detained lawyer of the Gonabadi Dervishes, was denied medical care for his severe heart disease. He was sentenced to eight years in prison on December 16, 2018.

(15) The prosecutor of Fardis published a video of a man was saved from execution and wrote ” Telegram saved him from gallows.” He was accused of murder and a fundraising in cyberspace helped him pay the blood money to the victim’s family.

(16) A biographical film of Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani was banned due to her ongoing judicial case.

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for January 3, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on January 3rd, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) Kourosh Karampour, a teacher and a poet, was beaten and arrested in Abadan. He had been summoned to Ministry of Education because of his interviews in support of teachers’ strikes and protests in the last few months.

(2) Mohsen Valadkhani, a detained Telegram activist, was released from prison after finishing his one-year sentence. He was charged with ‘insulting the Supreme Leader’ and ‘propaganda against the state’.

(3) Child abuse in Mashhad caused the death of a six-year-old girl. Hadiseh was transferred to a hospital on December 25th and died yesterday. Her body shows signs of torture such as burn wound infections on her genital and the rest of her body.

(4) Ahmad Taghavi, a retired teacher and a union activist, was arrested in the city of Abhar in Zanjan province. The reason of his arrest and his whereabouts are unknown.

(5) Four Azerbaijani Turkic minority rights activists were released on bail in Sarab. Sahand Moali, Vahid Nourahmadi, Heidar Mazinani, and Mohammad Ranjbari had been arrested on December 31.

(6) Mehdi Yarrahi, a pop singer, was banned from working because he wore work costume of the workers of Iran National Steel Company on the stage. Also, “Jame Sabz”, the producer company of his new music video “Pareh Sang”, in which he pointed out Khuzestan issues, was suspended.

(7) The head of Housing Foundation in Golestan province reported that approximately 128 thousand houses and schools in villages are prone to natural disasters. This would cause catastrophes and villagers’ migration.

(8) Four human rights organizations published an annual report of Military forces monitoring in remote areas: more than 300 injuries and deaths in 11 provinces.

(9) Mohsen Farahmand and Mohammad Dadresi were released on bail in Marivan. Hamid Parvazeh, Mohammad Parvazeh, and Salman Afra are still in prison. They are accused of ‘cooperation with a Kurdish opposition group’ and were denied access to a lawyer.

(10) Majid Khomami Asl was executed in Nowshahr today. He was charged with murder in a so-called honor-killing.

(11) Two mines were shut down over environmental pollution concerns.

(12) Department of Environment reported the arrest of 44 poachers in Mahabad and 199 poachers in Ardabil during the last eight months.

(13) 12 students were poisoned by a nonstandard gas heater in a Valiasr school of Tabriz. Two of them were transferred to hospital. Nonstandard heaters used in schools reportedly have caused catastrophes.

(14) One worker died and three were injured because of unsafe workplaces in Tabriz and Yazd on January 3, 2019.

(15) Hasan Shahreza, a detained Gonabadi dervish, was denied medical care in Fashafuieh prison. He has several shots of police shotgun in his body since he was arrested 10 months ago. Detained dervishes reportedly tried to take out bullets by tuna can lid.

(16) The city services workers of Borujerd, Dorud, Aleshtar, Kuhdasht, Chaghabal, and Khorramabad in Lorestan province have 115 billion Toman [$11M] unpaid wages combined. They have at least five months unpaid wages.