Reyhaneh Ansarinezhad Transferred to Evin Prison to Serve 4-Year Sentence

Reyhaneh Ansarinezhad, a labor activist, was transferred to Evin Prison on Tuesday, November 6, to serve her four-year prison sentence. This labor activist was sentenced by Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court to four years in prison, a two-year ban on social media activities, and a travel ban. Agents of the Ministry of Intelligence arrested Reyhaneh Ansarinezhad at her home on May 11, 2022. After 87 days of interrogation, she was released on bail of 1.5 billion tomans. Her arrest, along with several other labor activists and teachers, including Reza Shahabi, Hassan Saidi, Davood Razavi, and Rasoul Badaghi, was related to a meeting with Cecile Couler and Jacques Pari, two French union activists, in Tehran. Subsequently, the Islamic Republic's television aired footage of this meeting in a restaurant, and the Arabic-language channel 'Al-Alam,' belonging to the Islamic Republic Radio and Television, announced on October 6 of the previous year that the two French citizens had traveled to Iran about five months earlier to prepare for a 'revolution and the overthrow of the Islamic Republic' by broadcasting 'forced confessions.' These two French union activists remain imprisoned alongside several labor activists and teachers. The arrests of these individuals have drawn widespread criticism from labor and teacher unions worldwide. The Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company stated that the four-year prison sentence for uncommitted crimes was issued based on 'false and fictitious scenarios,' and the appeals court upheld the primary court's ruling without considering the deficiencies in Reyhaneh Ansarinezhad's case. The Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company strongly condemned the imprisonment of Reyhaneh Ansarinezhad and called for the complete annulment of this 'oppressive sentence' and her unconditional release, along with all labor activists, teachers, and civil activists. The Telegram channel 'Charter of Freedom, Welfare, Equality' reported that Foad (Sirus) Fathi, a labor activist, was arrested by the security forces of the Islamic Republic in Tehran on Saturday, November 4. According to this report, this Kurdish labor activist informed his family in a phone call after his arrest that he was in Evin Prison and had been informed of his charges by the investigator of Branch 7 of the Evin Prosecutor's Office. The Telegram channel noted that when Mr. Fathi's family visited Evin Prosecutor's Office on Sunday, November 5, to inquire about his status, prison officials told them that this labor activist's name was not registered in the system, effectively denying his existence in prison. This situation has caused concern for Foad Fathi's family. This labor activist had previously been arrested and imprisoned on April 25, 2019, just before International Workers' Day.