At Least 5 Teacher Activists Sentenced to Imprisonment

At least five teachers in the provinces of Kurdistan and Bushehr were sentenced to imprisonment in recent days. The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Marivan sentenced four teacher activists named Tahsin Mostafa, Aram Qaderi, Siwan Soleimani, and Aram Mohammadi to a total of 16 months in prison. According to the human rights organization Hengaw, the charge against these activists is 'propaganda against the regime,' with each of them sentenced to four months in prison. Many teacher activists have faced prison sentences for the charge of 'propaganda against the regime.' Tahsin Mostafa, a board member of the Marivan Teachers' Association with 23 years of teaching experience, had previously been deprived of ranking and dismissed from the education system by the Kurdistan Administrative Violations Board under 'false pretexts' for pursuing labor demands and criticizing the current situation. The specific accusations against the four teacher activists from Marivan include 'reports from agents,' 'participation in illegal gatherings,' and 'preparing and disseminating images of illegal gatherings on anti-regime channels.' According to Hengaw, the reasons for the charges against them are their 'participation in teachers' protest gatherings' and 'demanding the implementation of the law regarding free education and education in the mother tongue.' The prison sentences for these four teachers have been suspended for two years. They were also arrested by the Marivan Intelligence Agency in Khordad 1401 and released after two days. Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Bushehr sentenced Mohsen Omrani, a board member of the Teachers' Trade Association in this province, to one year in prison for 'propaganda against the regime.' According to the Coordination Council of Teachers' Trade Associations of Iran, this teacher activist has also been sentenced to two years in prison in another case. The Coordination Council condemned the 'case fabrication' against Mohsen Omrani and expressed support for his continued union activities. Since Ordibehesht 1401, hundreds of teachers and educational activists have been arrested on security charges. Some of these activists have been sentenced to prison, while others have been released on bail. Reza Shahabi, a labor activist imprisoned in Evin Prison, has gone on hunger strike. The dismissal of Aziz Qasemzadeh from the education system has been ruled as 'with reduction' by the Administrative Justice Court. The condemnation of the death sentence for Sharifeh Mohammadi continues among organizations in Iran. Nine educational activists from Kerman province have been summoned to court.