Continued Pressure on Teachers and Educational Activists in Iran; Sara Siyahpour Summoned to the Revolutionary Court

The Coordinating Council of Teachers' Trade Associations in Iran reported ongoing pressure on teachers and educational activists. According to the Telegram channel of this national teachers' organization, the 21st branch of the Revolutionary Court in Karaj has summoned Sara Siyahpour, a teacher and educational activist in Alborz province, to court on charges of 'propaganda against the Islamic Republic.' This summons was electronically issued to Sara Siyahpour on August 8. This teacher and educational activist has previously faced security and judicial actions by the Islamic Republic in the years 2017, 2018, and 2022. According to the council, this teacher was sentenced in January 2023 in a new case at the 15th branch of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, presided over by Ghasem Salavati, to five years for 'collusion and conspiracy to commit a crime against security' and one year for 'propaganda against the system.' This ruling was confirmed in March of the same year by the appellate court and then the Supreme Court. Following this, at the order of the Cyber Police in Alborz province, the bank accounts of Sara Siyahpour and her sister were blocked, and her personal phone was also cut off. The Coordinating Council of Teachers' Trade Associations in Iran also reported, citing human rights sources, that Alireza Mardasi, a teacher and political prisoner, remains in limbo in Shiban prison in Ahvaz nearly a year after his arrest. According to this report, Mr. Mardasi suffers from health issues such as lung disease and is deprived of adequate medical care. This teacher has previously been charged with 'corruption on earth' and 'rebellion,' but no court has been held for him yet. Currently, several detainees from recent years have been charged with 'rebellion,' which could lead to the death penalty for them. In this context, Sharifeh Mohammadi, a labor activist, and Pakhshan Azizi, a civil activist, have been sentenced to death. The issuance of such charges and sentences has led to widespread protests from activists and human rights organizations as well as trade unions around the world. More than 10,000 signatures have been collected requesting the release of Rasool Badaghi. Over 10,000 teachers, trade activists, and workers have signed a letter calling for the release of Rasool Badaghi, a imprisoned teacher and trade activist. In this letter, written by the 'Campaign for the Freedom of Rasool Badaghi,' it is stated that this teacher and trade activist has only been granted leave for four days to attend his daughter's engagement ceremony since his arrest on April 29, 2022, spending all this time in prison. The signatories of the letter noted that Mr. Badaghi has been imprisoned for over two years, and his lawyers' efforts for his release have been unsuccessful, with the Supreme Court rejecting the request for retrial, and his phone calls have recently been restricted. They called for the release of Rasool Badaghi in their joint statement, referring to him as 'the Rasool of Iran's teachers.' According to HRANA, Rasool Badaghi, an inspector of the Teachers' Trade Association and a member of the Coordinating Council of Teachers' Trade Associations, was sentenced in April 2022 by the Revolutionary Court in Tehran to four years in prison for 'collusion and conspiracy' and one year for 'propaganda activities against the system,' along with a supplementary punishment of a two-year ban on leaving the country and residing in Tehran and all neighboring provinces. His conviction was confirmed in the appellate court in early June of the same year. This teachers' trade activist was again sentenced in November 2022 by the Revolutionary Court in Tehran to four years and six months for 'collusion and conspiracy' and one year for 'propaganda against the system,' and was banned from activities and membership in groups and leaving the country for two years. The Teachers' Trade Association of North Khorasan stated: 'Anger, imprisonment, reprimands, dismissals, fines, and various threats are not the answer to the rightful demands of caring teachers.' Currently, he is serving his sentence in Evin prison. Meanwhile, several other educational activists are imprisoned on security charges, and many other teachers have been dismissed from their jobs. In this regard, the Teachers' Trade Association of North Khorasan issued a statement calling for the release of Rasool Badaghi and demanded an end to all violent actions against educational activists, emphasizing: 'Anger, imprisonment, reprimands, dismissals, fines, and various threats are not the answer to the rightful demands of caring teachers.' The Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported that the Administrative Justice Court confirmed the dismissal of Farmisak Fattahi, a teacher from Marivan, which had previously been issued by the central selection committee of the Education Department. According to this report, Ms. Fattahi, who has 14 years of experience in teaching and managing kindergartens and primary schools in Marivan, was dismissed in March 2023 by the central selection committee of the Education Department. The notification of this ruling stated that she was 'not qualified for the selection of the best candidate,' and thus her employment was not approved. Over the past three years, she has been summoned multiple times by the selection committee of the Kurdistan Education Department and interrogated about 'supporting the Quran School.' According to the website 'Quran School,' the history of this school dates back to 1977 when Ahmad Mofti Zadeh established the Quran School, which later changed its name to Quran School. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, the dismissal of this teacher occurred after four interrogations regarding this accusation by the Education Department's selection committee. The Coordinating Council of Teachers' Trade Associations in Iran also pointed out that the dismissal of teachers in Kurdish cities is 'widely underway, and the files of hundreds of teachers have been referred to disciplinary and selection committees to recreate the events of the 1980s in this region.'