Ten Teacher Union Activists Sentenced to a Collective 20 Years with Additional Penalties

The Revolutionary Court of Rasht has sentenced ten teacher union activists to two years in prison each, along with additional penalties, as reported by the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association channel.

The convicted teachers are Anoosh Adeli, Mahmood Sedighipour, Aziz Ghasemzadeh, Teymoor Bagheri Koodakani, Tahmasb Sohrabi, Gholamreza Akbarzadeh Baghian, Ali Nahali, Mohammad-Javad Saeedi, Jahanbakhsh Lajevardi, and Yadollah Baharestani. In addition to the prison terms, they have been barred from joining political/civil groups for two years.

The court session addressed charges related to “disturbing public order through participating in and holding protest union gatherings and defying police officers.” Sedighipour and Ghasemzadeh were imprisoned and did not attend the court.

Among them, Adeli, Sedighipour, and Ghasemzadeh had previously received a one-year prison term, which was upheld on appeal. They are currently serving their sentences in Lakan Prison, Rasht.

In 2023, the Department of Statistics of Human Rights Activists in Iran documented 1,700 reports related to the rights of trade unions and associations. This included 53 individuals who received sentences totaling 1,230 months of imprisonment.

Four Teacher Union Activists Sentenced to Prison Terms and Additional Penalties

In recent developments, four members of the Teachers’ Trade Association in Bushehr, namely Mohsen Omrani, Mohmood Melaki, Asghar Hajat, and Abdolreza Amanifar, have received sentences totaling four years and eight months, along with additional penalties.

As reported by the Teachers Union Telegram channel, Melaki and Omrani have each been sentenced to two years of imprisonment, with the additional penalty of having some of their assets confiscated, and a three-year ban from engaging in the educational profession. Meanwhile, Hajat and Amanifar have each received four-month prison sentences, coupled with the seizure of certain belongings.

These activists had initially been detained on May 1, 2022, during nationwide protests organized by working and retired teachers. They were subsequently released on bail over the following weeks, pending the conclusion of legal proceedings.

It’s worth noting that Melaki faced another arrest by security forces on December 17, 2022, amidst nationwide protests. Although he was released on bail in late February, he was later permanently dismissed from his service.

These individuals were reportedly convicted on charges related to “actions against national security, disruption of public order and peace, and resisting on-duty officers.”

Mass Arrests of Teachers and Teacher Union Activists in Cities of Iran

On June  15 and 16, 2022, several teachers and teacher union activists were arrested by security forces in the cities of Rasht, Saqqez, Khomeini Shahr, Mariwan, Divandarreh, Sanandaj and Delfan. HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists,  was able to verify the arrest of 51 individuals.

According to HRANA, dozens of teachers and educators were arrested in different cities.

On Thursday, June 16, 2022, in response to the call of the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations, active and retired teachers and educators held protests in front of the Ministry of Education in several cities across Iran.

In Tehran, a high number of police and security forces prevented the protestors from gathering near the parliament. Also, in Saqqez and Sanandaj, the heavy presence of plainclothes security agents was evident.

The protesting teachers demanded the immediate release of detained teachers, the implementation of the “Job Ranking Plan” as passed in Iran’s parliament, closing the gap in pensions, free education for students, and a maximum class size of 16. 

The following is a confirmed list of individuals arrested in each city:

Rasht, Gilan Province

  1. Koka Bodaghi
  2. Aziz Ghasemzadeh
  3. Mahmood Sedighipour
  4. Anoosh Adeli
  5. Javad Saeedi and
  6. an unidentified woman.

 

Saqqez, Kurdistan Province

  1. Khaled Abdollahi
  2. Mohammad Fatahi
  3. Taher Ghaderzadeh
  4. Soleyman Abdi
  5. Azizi Marzi
  6. Ahmad Ghaderi
  7. Keywan Mohammadi
  8. Hossein Mohammadi
  9. Loghmanollah Moradi
  10. Khaled Sheikhi
  11. Salahedin Hosseini
  12. Ghader Yasrabi
  13. Marzieh Talai
  14. Amanj Amni
  15. Zahed Moradi
  16. Anvar Farajzadeh
  17. Awat Razawi
  18. Esmail Reihani
  19. Taher Hamei
  20. Keywan Ahmadi
  21. Salah Sorkhi

 

Qazvin, Qazvin Province

  1. Mohammad-Reza Behnam-Nejad
  2. Ali Sadeghi-Nejad
  3. Mahmood Sabooni
  4. Mahmood Zamani
  5. Saayadi (first name unknown)
  6. Hamid Farokh Amini
  7. Efekhari (First Name Unknown)
  8. Razni (first name unknown)
  9. Kazemi (first name unknown).

 

Khomeini Shahr, Isfahan Province

  1. Sattar Zarei (released on bail)
  2. Mojtaba Abtahi (released on bail)
  3. Ruhollah Ghadimi (released on bail)

 

Mariwan, Kurdistan Province

  1. Tahsin Mostafa
  2. Sivan Soleimani
  3. Aram Ghaderi

 

Divandarreh, Kurdistan Province

  1. Omid-Shah Mohammadi
  2. Othman Rezai
  3. Hiwa Ghoreishi
  4. Parviz Ahsani
  5. Kaweh Mohammadzadeh

 

Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province

  1. Salah Haji Mirzai
  2. Mohammad-Reza Moradi
  3. Ghias Nemati

And in Delfan, Lorestan province, one arrested teacher was identified as Parviz Eini.