HRANA, Human Rights Activists News Agency – Esmail (Esmaeil) Abdi, a teacher union activist, continues to be held in Kachooie Prison, Karaj, for over seven months after his request for a retrial was granted.

Monireh Abdi, his wife, shared with HRANA that “Despite the Supreme Court’s approval for a retrial, judicial officials are refusing to grant him bail. Seven months have passed, and Branch 29 of the Revolutionary Court has yet to review the case.”

“Abdi is currently confined in the military ward of Kachooie Prison. After repeated requests, the judicial authorities offered him a five-day furlough on a bail amount of one billion tomans. However, Abdi declined this leave, pointing out that since the Supreme Court overturned the verdict, he should be released on bail as per the law.”
Abdi’s retrial request was accepted by the Supreme Court on November 16, 2022.

On June 27, 2015, Abdi was arrested and interrogated for several hours at Evin Courthouse when he inquired about the reason for being prohibited from leaving the country. Following six months of detention, in March of the subsequent year, he was sentenced to six years in prison by the Revolutionary Court of Tehran on charges of “propaganda against the regime and assembly and collusion against national security,” with five years being enforceable.

Previously, Abdi had received a ten-year suspended sentence, intended to last for five years. However, during the last months of his five-year sentence, the court reactivated the suspended sentence by order.