Atakeh Rajabi Refuses to Give Commitment; Investigator Announced Indictment Will Be Issued

Atakeh Rajabi, a teachers' union activist from Khorasan, who was summoned to the prosecutor's office for the second time this week, wrote in a tweet on Tuesday, August 7, that the prosecutor's office had asked her to give a commitment and express regret, but she has refused to do so. The Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Unions announced, "Following Ms. Rajabi's refusal to give a commitment, the investigator has announced that an indictment will be issued for her case and it will be sent to court." In detailing her presence at the prosecutor's office on Tuesday, Rajabi wrote on her Twitter account: "Today, I was summoned to court again. They presented me with a commitment document stating that I promise not to commit any criminal acts that disrupt the security of the system and that I regret the crime I have committed." This teachers' union activist continued: "Are you okay? What crime? What disruption to security? No, dear, the problem is not with me, the unknown, the problem is with you, the well-known." The Coordination Council of Teachers' Trade Unions announced on August 5 that "Atakeh Rajabi, a teachers' union activist who was previously expelled from the Ministry of Education due to her support for the Jina Revolution, has been summoned to Branch 906 of the Revolutionary Court in Mashhad." This women's and children's rights activist had previously been detained for five days by the Ministry of Intelligence and was released on a bail of 1.6 billion tomans. Atakeh Rajabi, who was arrested on the morning of May 8 in front of the Education Department in Mashhad while on her way to participate in a teachers' protest, was released on bail of 1.5 billion tomans after five days of detention. On October 24 of last year, in protest against the "murder and detention of children," she refrained from attending her school and was subsequently "expelled" from the Ministry of Education due to her "strike." The arrest of Atakeh Rajabi, a teachers' union activist, and her sister, Saadi Rajabi, explains the ongoing judicial actions against teachers; the secretary of the Khuzestan Teachers' Trade Association has also been summoned. Teachers' union activists have been summoned; Atakeh Rajabi stated: "I will not go back on the path I have taken." Atakeh Rajabi and Farzad Safikhanpour, two teachers' union activists, have been temporarily released. The hunger strike continues in protest against illegal detentions and the oppressive conditions of prisons; two detained teachers are on hunger strike. Exclusive: Concerns about the "dry hunger strike" of Zartosht Ahmadinejad and Atakeh Rajabi continue. The ongoing security and judicial actions against teachers; the status of the detainees remains unclear. Teachers' gatherings have been held in 22 cities; workers of the Kerman railway and employees of Behesht Zahra are on strike.