Prison Sentences of 8 Teacher Activists in Gilan Province Converted to Fines; 2 Teachers Acquitted in Appeals Court

The prison sentences of 8 teacher activists in Gilan Province were converted to fines in a joint case at the appeals court, and 2 others were acquitted. The Iranian Teachers' Trade Association announced this news on Tuesday, August 23, following the final ruling of Branch 29 of the Gilan Appeals Court for 10 teacher activists in the province. According to this ruling, the two-year and one-day prison sentence from the lower court for each of the 8 teachers; Anoush Adeli, Aziz Qasemi Zadeh, Timour Bagheri Koodakani, Tahmasb Sohrabi, Gholamreza Akbarzadeh Baghban, Ali Nahadi, Mohammad Javad Saeedi, and Jahanbakhsh Lajvardi was converted to a "fine of 3 million and 300 thousand tomans." Additionally, Yadollah Baharestani and Mahmoud Sedighi Pour, two other teachers, were acquitted in this case. Previously, the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Rasht had issued prison sentences for these 10 teacher activists, attributing the charge of "disrupting public order and security through limited opposition to the government." The pressure on civil and labor activists in Iran by the Islamic Republic has been steadily increasing, and a significant number of them have been arrested and imprisoned on security charges. According to a report received by VOA on Monday, August 22, Kouka Badaghi Pegah, a cultural activist in Khuzestan Province, was "sentenced for the second time by the Disciplinary Committee to a four-month suspension from service." Furthermore, reports from the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Associations indicate that Pirouz Nami, the secretary of the Khuzestan Teachers' Trade Association, has been summoned to court. This teachers' organization stated that previously, the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Ahvaz and the Criminal Court, under pressure from security forces, had sentenced him to imprisonment and fines in three separate rulings, but Branch 21 of the Ahvaz Appeals Court issued a decision to dismiss the case against Mr. Nami. Thousands of teachers, labor activists, and workers have called for the release of "the teacher of Iran, Rasoul."