Family of Ismail Bakhti Protests Outside Court; His Mother Reportedly Threatened

The Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane announced in a statement about the gathering of Ismail Bakhti's family, a member of this organization and a representative of the Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers, in front of the courthouse in Shush on Tuesday. According to the report, a number of Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers also participated in this gathering. The protesters, holding placards demanding the release of Ismail Bakhti, protested against his continued detention and the lack of information regarding the status of this labor activist. In this context, the Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane indicated that the head of the Shush Intelligence Department threatened Ismail Bakhti's mother, who was present at the gathering, but did not specify the nature of this official's threat. Earlier, the Shush prosecutor had issued an order for the arrest of his mother following the family's visit to the prosecutor's office. Reports indicate that when officials attempted to handcuff Ismail Bakhti's mother, she fainted and was transferred to a hospital, thus her arrest was averted. The Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane also condemned the continued detention of Ismail Bakhti and called for his immediate and unconditional release. On the other hand, Farzaneh Zeylabi, Ismail Bakhti's lawyer, in statements published on the Telegram channel of the Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane, referred to her summons for questioning by the Shush Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office, stating that her summons was based on a report from the Shush Judiciary's Information Protection regarding her mentioning of her client's torture in an interview. Ms. Zeylabi noted that this report included criminal charges such as 'spreading falsehoods with the intent to disturb public opinion,' referring to the mention of Ismail Bakhti's torture, as well as 'aiding in creating a propaganda campaign against the regime,' and added that she refrained from answering questions that directly addressed her in the report. The defense attorney for Ismail Bakhti pointed out that she was summoned as a 'witness' but had not been treated as such in the matter. Farzaneh Zeylabi further stated that she would not withdraw from representing her client under 'any pressure' and considers her primary responsibility to fulfill her professional legal obligations and defend him. She also announced that Ismail Bakhti, who has been pursuing his complaint against security officials, has been in a security detention center for about a month, expressing hope that with the conversion of his detention order and his release, 'the possibility of pursuing complaints against the perpetrators in a logical, fair, and impartial environment would be provided.' Ismail Bakhti was first arrested in November along with 17 other Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers and civil activist Sepideh Gholian during strikes and protests by the Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers. Among them, 17 detained workers were released after a few days, but Mr. Bakhti was released after 25 days and Ms. Gholian after one month. After their release, both stated that they had been tortured after their detention in Shush and also in the Ahvaz Intelligence detention center. However, government and judicial officials denied the torture allegations, citing a report from the Ministry of Intelligence that Mr. Bakhti has complained about. Subsequently, Mr. Bakhti and Ms. Gholian were again arrested on January 19. These security and judicial actions have drawn widespread criticism from human rights organizations and labor unions.