General Secretary of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Union Arrested by Security Forces

The Iranian Teachers' Trade Union announced that security agents arrested Ismail Abdi, the General Secretary of this non-governmental organization, at his home on Wednesday, November 10, and transferred him to Evin Prison. According to the Teacher and Worker Rights website, close to the Iranian Teachers' Trade Union, Mr. Abdi was arrested by six security agents who refused to provide identification cards and arrest warrants. The report indicates that they claimed they were taking the General Secretary of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Union for a discussion. Ismail Abdi's arrest came after the appeals court confirmed his six-year prison sentence on October 8. According to the report, Ismail Abdi was arrested on June 27 last year while attempting to travel to Canada as a representative of the Coordinating Council of Trade Unions of Teachers across Iran to attend an international teachers' meeting, following protests by educators over the disarray in the education system. Subsequently, the General Secretary of the Teachers' Trade Union was sentenced to six years in prison in a primary court in February of last year. After 16 days of detention and following a hunger strike, he was released on a bail of 300 million tomans. Meanwhile, the Iranian Teachers' Trade Union strongly protested Mr. Abdi's arrest. The Teachers' Trade Union of Gilan also described the treatment of Ismail Abdi as inhumane and called on government officials, especially the new Minister of Education, to take firm action against these 'law-breaking moves' to prevent such practices against trade union activists and law-abiding citizens. This request comes at a time when government officials, including those from the Ministry of Education, have not reacted to the arrest of the General Secretary of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Union. In the meantime, the Free Workers' Union of Iran condemned the arrest and transfer of Ismail Abdi to Evin Prison and demanded his immediate and unconditional release from prison. About a week before Ismail Abdi's arrest, the International Education Federation had called on all its member organizations to take immediate and decisive action in protest against the six-year prison sentence, which it described as 'imposed and unjustifiable.'