Family of Rasoul Badaghi in the Dark as Evin Prison Officials Deny Phone Contact

Rasoul Badaghi, a cultural teachers' union activist and political prisoner at Evin Prison, has been deprived of his right to make phone calls for some time, causing increasing concern among his family and close ones. According to the Harana website, Badaghi has not contacted his family since early August due to orders from prison officials. The ban on Badaghi's communication came shortly after over 10,000 teachers, union activists, and workers signed a letter demanding his release. The letter, written by the 'Campaign for the Freedom of Rasoul Badaghi,' states that this teacher and union activist has only been granted leave for four days to attend his daughter's engagement ceremony since his arrest on May 1, 2022, spending the entire time in prison. The signatories of the letter noted that despite more than two years of imprisonment, Badaghi's lawyers' efforts for his release have been fruitless, as the Supreme Court rejected their request for retrial, and recently his phone calls have been restricted. They called for Badaghi's release in their joint statement, referring to him as 'the Rasoul of Iranian teachers.' Badaghi, an inspector of the teachers' union and a member of the Coordinating Council of Teachers' Unions, was sentenced in April 2022 by the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran to four years in prison for 'collusion and conspiracy' and one year for 'propaganda against the regime,' along with a two-year ban on leaving the country and residing in Tehran and neighboring provinces. His conviction was upheld in early June of the same year. This teachers' union activist was again sentenced in November 2022 by the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran to four years and six months for 'collusion and conspiracy' and one year for 'propaganda against the regime,' along with a two-year ban on activities and membership in groups and leaving the country. Since May 2022, hundreds of teachers and cultural union activists have been arrested on security charges, with some sentenced to prison and others released on bail.