Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Unions: Judicial Sentences Will Not Hinder Teachers' Demands

On Thursday, March 8, the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Unions issued a statement regarding the "continued repression of teachers," asserting that judicial sentences will not prevent their demands. In this context, the independent teachers' union's Telegram channel reported the final notification of the expulsion of Mahmoud Malaki, an inspector of the Bushehr Teachers' Trade Union, by the Administrative Justice Court, as well as the arrest of Soleiman Abdi, a member of the Kurdistan Teachers' Trade Association in Saqqez, who was sentenced to eight months in prison and 70 lashes. According to the report, the Ministry of Education's appeals board had previously issued the expulsion order for Mahmoud Malaki. Following this, Mr. Malaki appealed the Administrative Justice Court's ruling, which upheld his expulsion. The Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Unions stated that the sentence of lashes and three months of imprisonment for this teachers' union activist, which was converted into a monetary fine, has also been sent for execution. The council described Malaki's expulsion as unjust, noting that multiple legal cases against him are ongoing. The council expressed support for Mr. Malaki and other union activists, warning the perpetrators of such sentences that these rulings will not only fail to prevent teachers' demands but will also inflame the latent anger of teachers more than ever. Previously, on Sunday, March 4, Soleiman Abdi, a teacher and member of the Kurdistan Teachers' Trade Association branch in Saqqez, was summoned to serve his prison sentence and was subsequently arrested and transferred to the central prison of the city. Mr. Abdi had been sentenced in July 2023 by Branch 105 of the Saqqez Criminal Court to eight months in prison and 70 lashes for "disrupting public order and peace by participating in an illegal gathering at Aichi Cemetery." The body of Mahsa Amini, who was killed in custody by the morality police last September, is buried in Aichi Cemetery. Activists in Khuzestan planted 60 saplings in memory of teachers and workers. The Islamic Revolutionary Court in Rasht sentenced nine members of the Gilan Teachers' Trade Union to prison. The Sweden-Iran Workers' Unions Platform called for the release of women's rights activists from the prisons of the Islamic Republic. Education International and the International Confederation of Trade Unions urged the Iranian government to free union activists.