Labor Activist Morteza Seydi Goes on Hunger Strike in Evin Prison

HRANA News Agency –Morteza Seydi, a labor activist imprisoned in Evin Prison, began a hunger strike yesterday, March 25, 2025.

According to information obtained by HRANA, in the final days of the previous Iranian year, Evin Prison officials attempted to transfer Seydi from Ward 8 to Ward 7. Seydi resisted the transfer, after which prison authorities punished him by moving him to the quarantine ward. In protest, he launched a hunger strike.

Morteza Seydi was arrested on November 5, 2024, after appearing at Branch 3 of the Enforcement Unit of the Shahr-e Qods Prosecutor’s Office to begin serving his sentence. He was subsequently transferred to Evin Prison.

In June 2024, Branch 2 of the Shahriar Revolutionary Court sentenced Seydi to two years in prison on charges of “forming a group under the name of a labor union with the intent to disrupt national security.”

Previously, on April 15, 2022, Seydi was arrested along with several other labor activists by security forces. He was released on bail on May 9, 2022.

Morteza Seydi has faced repeated judicial prosecution over his labor activism.

Three Workers’ Rights Activists Sentenced to a Total of Six Years in Prison

Mohammad Iran-Nejad, Nasrollah Amirloo, and Morteza Seydi, labor activists, were each sentenced to two years in prison by the Revolutionary Court of Shahriar.

According to a verdict recently issued by branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Shahriar and delivered to these workers’ rights advocates on June 22, they were each sentenced to two years in prison for “forming a group under the title of a labor union with the intent to disrupt national security.” The court session to address these charges was held on May 26th of the previous year in the aforementioned branch.

Iran-Nejad, Amirloo, and Seydi, along with several other labor activists, were arrested by security forces on April 15, 2022. Amirloo and Seydi were released on bail on May 2 and May 9 of the same year, respectively, and Iran-Nejad was released after about a month.

Mohammad Iran-Nejad was sent to Evin Prison on June 26, 2022, to serve his sentence of two years and nine months for another case. Following the fire incident in Evil Prison on October 15, 2022, he and several other prisoners were transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison. He was released from this prison in February-March 2024.

Three Workers’ Rights Activists Face Trial

HRANA News Agency-Branch 2 of the Shahriar Revolutionary Court held the court hearing addressing charges against three workers’ rights activists, Mohammad Iran-Nejad, Morteza Seydi and Nasrolllah Amirlou.

The defendants, who were represented by their attorneys including Erfan Karam Veisi, faced charges of “forming a workers’ association to act against national security.” The outcome of the trial remains to be seen.

The trio had previously been summoned to court on August 21, 2022, to present their final defense.

On June 26, 2022, Iran-Nejad was imprisoned to serve his sentence received for his previous legal case. He was released from Rajaj Shahr Prison on February 20, 2023.

Amirlou and Seydi were arrested on April 15, 2022, and later transferred from a detention facility in Tehran to Ward 209 of Evin Prison. They were granted bail and released from Evin Prison on May 2 and 9, 2022, respectively.