Ismail Abdi Transferred from Hospital Back to Evin Prison

Ismail Abdi, a member of the board of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association, was returned to Evin Prison from the hospital on Tuesday, June 6. The Telegram channel of this teachers' organization announced that Mr. Abdi had been hospitalized at Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran for specialized examinations. He was transferred to the hospital on June 3 after more than 30 days of hunger strike, with the approval of Evin prison officials. The report did not mention the status of this teachers' rights activist's hunger strike. Monir Abdi, Ismail Abdi's wife, stated on June 4 to Radio Farda about her husband's condition in the hospital: 'Mr. Abdi's condition is not good at all. He is in poor physical condition and has become very weak and thin.' Mrs. Abdi added: 'Our request is that Mr. Abdi be hospitalized so that he can continue his hunger strike in the hospital, or if they intend to grant him leave, they should do so sooner, because Mr. Abdi has also said in the emergency room that if his leave is approved by the prosecutor's office, he will break his hunger strike; otherwise, he will continue it.' Ismail Abdi, who has been sentenced to six years in prison, began his hunger strike on April 29 in protest against 'illegal and unjust treatment of civil activists in Iran, the lack of independence of the judiciary, and the issuance of prison sentences for activists of teachers' and workers' organizations.' This teachers' rights activist has also demanded 'the process of his case be moved from a security to a normal status.' Previously, the Telegram channel of Teachers' and Workers' Rights, close to the Teachers' Trade Association, reported that Fatemeh Saidi, a member of the Education and Research Commission of the Parliament, visited Ismail Abdi at Imam Khomeini Hospital on June 4 and stated that she would continue her efforts for his release. The ILNA news agency reported on June 27 that Ms. Saidi had requested the Tehran prosecutor to arrange a meeting with Mr. Abdi in Evin Prison. Since the beginning of Ismail Abdi's hunger strike, Amnesty International, the International Education Federation, the Canadian Teachers' Federation, the German Teachers' Union, the Iranian Teachers' Organization, the Tehran Teachers' Trade Association, the Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, the Free Workers' Union of Iran, the Coordinating Council of Cultural Associations of the Country, and the Teachers' Trade Association of Kurdistan - Marivan have expressed concern for his health and called for the release of this trade union activist. Additionally, over 18,000 people have signed an open letter to Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary, demanding the immediate release of this board member of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association. These requests have so far gone unanswered by the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In another development, ILNA reported that Mohsen Omrani, a teachers' union activist in Bushehr, has been detained to serve his prison sentence. According to ILNA, Mr. Omrani, who had previously been sentenced by the judiciary, has been in Bushehr prison since April 29 to serve his one-year prison sentence. This teachers' rights activist has also been sentenced to two years of suspension from service. In recent years, Iranian teachers' unions have faced security and judicial pressures, and several of their officials and members have been arrested and imprisoned. Currently, Ali Akbar Baghaei, former vice president of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association, is serving a 10-year exile sentence in Zabol after completing his one-year prison sentence. Additionally, Mahmoud Beheshti Langroudi, Mohammad Reza Niknejad, Mehdi Bahlooli, and Taher Ghaderzadeh are among other teachers' union activists awaiting their appeals.