Mohammad Parsi, Journalist, Summoned to Court Again; Ongoing Uncertainty for Eman Jalali Nejad, Detained Teacher

In the continuation of intensified pressures on journalists and labor activists, Mohammad Parsi, a government-critical journalist, reported his summons to court, coinciding with the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Eman Jalali Nejad, a teacher imprisoned in Shiban prison in Ahvaz. On Tuesday, July 4, Parsi announced on his 'X' page about the prosecutor's complaint in a new case and his summons to court. This media activist stated that his charge is 'saying things that they do not like to hear.' The charge against this journalist is titled 'spreading falsehoods through cyberspace.' Simultaneously, with the competition among government candidates to determine a successor to Ebrahim Raisi, several journalists exposing government officials' corruption have been arrested and sent to prison. Among the arrested journalists are Yashar Soltani, Saba Azarpeik, Hadi Kasai Zadeh, and Vahid Ishtari. On the other hand, nearly three months after the arrest of Eman Jalali Nejad, the imprisoned teacher in Shiban prison, his case has still not been sent to court. According to HRANA, a news agency of human rights activists in Iran, despite 79 days passing since the arrest of this teacher residing in Ahvaz and the holding of a hearing session, his case has yet to be sent to court. Among the charges against this labor activist is 'propaganda against the regime.' Eman Jalali Nejad was arrested on April 9 and transferred from the quarantine section of Shiban prison to a security ward in early June. Following a complaint by the Ministry of Education, Narges Malekzadeh, a teachers' labor activist, was also summoned to the 31st District Prosecutor's Office in Tehran. The channel of the Coordinating Council of Teachers' Trade Unions in Iran, by publishing an image of the prosecutor's summons, reported the charge against this teacher as 'reporting false information and spreading falsehoods.' This trade union channel described Reza Morad Sahraei, the Minister of Education of the Islamic Republic, as having the 'weakest managerial record' and stated that instead of being accountable for the existing inefficiencies in the Ministry of Education, he is filing complaints against labor and media activists. The trend of security and judicial actions by the Islamic Republic against teachers and cultural labor activists has intensified since last year. These actions have drawn criticism from international labor and teachers' unions. The renewed arrest of Hadi Kasai Zadeh, a journalist, followed a complaint against two government entities. The whistleblower of the 'Sismoni Gate' involving the Qalibaf family was convicted and sent to prison. Two Iranian journalists were arrested for the execution of 'judicial sentences'; Yashar Soltani and Saba Azarpeik were transferred to prison. Hossein Ronaghi was arrested on charges of carrying symbols of 'Lion and Sun' and 'Women, Life, Freedom.'