Mahmoud Salehi, Kidney Disease-Affected Labor Activist, Arrested

Mahmoud Salehi, a labor activist in Kurdistan province of Iran, who suffers from kidney disease, was arrested on Saturday after undergoing dialysis at Imam Khomeini Hospital in Saqqez by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence. Sarmand Salehi, the son of this labor activist, announced this in an interview with Radio Farda, indicating that the Saqqez court has issued a one-year prison sentence for his father, who has been transferred to Saqqez prison. Previously, Mr. Salehi had been sentenced to nine years in prison, which has now been reduced to one year. Sarmand Salehi states that it is still unclear what crime his father has been charged with. Nevertheless, he points out that the nine-year sentence was related to cases from the 1980s, for which his father had already served time. Mahmoud Salehi, who lost his kidneys while in detention at the Sanandaj Intelligence Detention Center, had previously been sentenced to nine years in prison, which reports indicate has now been reduced to one year. Mahmoud Salehi, a well-known labor activist in Iran, is imprisoned at a time when his kidneys require dialysis twice a week. He had previously stated that after his arrest in May 2015, he lost his kidneys due to lack of medical care and failure to receive his medications while in detention at the Sanandaj Intelligence Detention Center. This issue has never been denied by the Ministry of Intelligence or the government of Hassan Rouhani. In this context, Sarmand Salehi expressed concerns about his father's lack of dialysis in prison, noting that he also has heart disease and has undergone surgery twice this year. He added that these issues were communicated to the Saqqez prosecutor on Sunday, November 7, and the prosecutor instructed the Saqqez prison authorities to address these matters and requested that the medical file of this labor activist be sent to forensic medicine. Sarmand Salehi called for his father's release considering his health conditions. Reactions to Mahmoud Salehi's arrest have been met with criticism from various labor organizations and activists. The Free Union of Iranian Workers, referencing the arrests of teacher movement activists; Ismail Abdi, Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroudi, Mohsen Omrani, and Mokhtar Asadi, as well as labor activists like Reza Shahabi, stated that Mr. Salehi's arrest, despite his severe heart disease and ongoing dialysis, "is nothing but a manifestation of intensified naked repression and a show of teeth to the working class to comply with the existing slave-like conditions and to curb the flood of protests from workers, teachers, and the working people of Iran." This labor organization condemned the systematic arrest of prominent labor and teacher movement activists and called for the release of all imprisoned labor and professional activists. The Free Union of Iranian Workers also held the highest security and judicial officials, including Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, responsible for any physical harm to Mahmoud Salehi. The Syndicate of Electrical and Metal Workers of Kermanshah also expressed concern for Mahmoud Salehi's health, stating that this labor activist urgently needs weekly dialysis, and otherwise, "his death is certain." This labor organization criticized what it termed "the continuous summons, harassment, arrests, and repeated imprisonment of prominent figures and activists of the labor and teachers' movement in the past year." The Syndicate of Electrical and Metal Workers of Kermanshah also called for the release of Mahmoud Salehi and all imprisoned activists in Iran and an end to any form of persecution, harassment, and intimidation of labor and professional activists.