Makhtar Asadi, Kurdish Teachers' Union Activist, Transferred to Evin Prison's Quarantine Ward

The channel of the "Coordination Council of Teachers' Trade Unions" has reported the transfer of Makhtar Asadi, a union activist and member of the Kurdish Teachers' Association, to the general quarantine ward of Evin Prison. According to this report, Mr. Asadi has also been deprived of visits with his family. Since his arrest on August 19, he has been on a hunger strike, raising concerns about his physical health. Previously, the human rights organization Hengaw reported that government forces raided his home in Sanandaj on Sunday, August 19 at 6 AM while he was not present, violently intimidating his wife, young child, and neighbors during the search. Makhtar Asadi is a teacher and union activist in Sanandaj who has been repeatedly arrested by government agencies in recent years and sentenced to imprisonment by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic. Following his forced retirement and the cessation of his salary, he has turned to agriculture for livelihood. The "Coordination Council of Teachers' Trade Unions of Iran" had also reported on May 2 that Makhtar Asadi and several other teachers' union activists were summoned to intelligence agencies. At the same time, HRANA, the news agency of human rights activists in Iran, reported that government agents obtained commitments from those summoned not to participate in the teachers' protest gathering on May 2. The intensification of security and judicial crackdowns by the Islamic Republic on teachers' union activists in recent years has faced criticism from international labor and teachers' unions. Currently, several teachers' union activists, such as Rasoul Badaghi, are imprisoned on security charges, while others are free on bail. Security charges against a teachers' union activist, Ismail Abdi, are leading to his imminent dismissal from the Ministry of Education. The strike by nurses in dozens of public hospitals continues despite security pressures. The government's pressure on union activists in Iran continues; Makhtar Asadi from Kurdistan has been arrested. The return of Sahand NourMohammadzadeh to prison and the ongoing issuance of punitive sentences and imprisonment for union and political activists continue. Farmers' protests in Kermanshah and Isfahan continue; protesters in Khorasgan held a "protest mourning".