Reza Shahabi, Board Member of the Bus Workers' Syndicate, Imprisoned Again

The Bus Workers' Syndicate of Tehran and Suburbs announced that following pressure from the prosecutor's office to return Reza Shahabi, a board member of this organization, to prison, he presented himself to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj on Wednesday, August 9. The syndicate indicated that Mr. Shahabi, who had been on medical leave after undergoing two major surgeries on his neck and back, had been threatened by the Tehran prosecutor's office for over a year that if he did not return to prison, the property used for his bail would be confiscated, and recently a confiscation order had been issued. According to the statement from this labor organization, to prevent the confiscation of his bail, Reza Shahabi visited Rajai Shahr Prison on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 8, and 'the prison officials told him that your release letter is in the file and to come back the next morning to collect your belongings.' The Bus Workers' Syndicate noted that this labor activist returned to Rajai Shahr Prison on the morning of Wednesday, August 9, accompanied by a syndicate member and his wife to collect his belongings, and 'despite seeing his release letter dated September 15, 2015, he was sent to the quarantine ward under the pretext of his absence in 2014, and no further information about his status is available.' This labor organization stated in a statement on Tuesday: 'The prosecutor's office claims that three months of Reza Shahabi's medical leave has not been approved, and based on this, the confiscation order was issued.' Shahabi's return to prison occurred under circumstances where the Bus Workers' Syndicate of Tehran and Suburbs had previously reported that his sentence, considering medical leave, had ended on May 5, 2015, and judicial officials had also verbally confirmed this. Nevertheless, reports indicate that judicial authorities had pressured this labor activist multiple times over the past year to return to prison. In this context, Amnesty International announced in a statement on April 29 that 'Reza Shahabi, who has been on medical leave since October 2014 after serving four years in prison, has recently been summoned back to prison.' Additionally, the International Confederation of Trade Unions expressed concern in a letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, regarding the actions of Iranian judicial and security officials in pressuring Reza Shahabi to return to prison. This international labor union deemed Mr. Shahabi's return to prison as a violation of international laws and human rights and called for an end to his harassment. Mr. Shahabi was arrested by security forces on June 12, 2010, and after 19 months in solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, was sentenced by the Islamic Revolutionary Court to six years in prison, five years of prohibition from union activities, and a fine of 7.5 million tomans. According to the Bus Workers' Syndicate of Tehran and Suburbs, 'Reza Shahabi suffered serious injuries to his neck and back due to violence from security forces during his arrest and also from prolonged and exhausting interrogations.' This labor organization noted the judicial authorities' opposition to Mr. Shahabi's treatment and his three hunger strikes, adding: 'This syndicate member was transferred to the hospital due to his deteriorating health from the hunger strike and underwent surgeries on his neck and back in two stages, and was granted medical leave confirmed by the forensic medical authority, stating that treatment and recovery should take place outside of prison.' According to the statement from the Bus Workers' Syndicate of Tehran and Suburbs, 'Although medical leave is considered part of the prison sentence, unfortunately, the prosecutor's office claims that three months of medical leave has not been approved, and based on this, the confiscation order was issued.' The Bus Workers' Syndicate of Tehran and Suburbs condemned the prosecutor's actions to return Reza Shahabi and called for his unconditional release, as well as the annulment of prison sentences for Ibrahim Madadi and Davood Razavi, two other board members of this labor organization and imprisoned teachers. Mr. Madadi has been sentenced to five years and three months in prison on charges of 'colluding and conspiring to act against national security' and 'disrupting public order through participation in illegal gatherings.' Mr. Razavi is facing similar charges and has been sentenced to five years in prison by the Tehran Revolutionary Court. Currently, several labor and trade activists, such as Ismail Abdi and Mohsen Omrani, are imprisoned on security-related charges. Previously, Amnesty International noted in a statement on April 29 that several trade activists, including Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroudi, Mohammad Reza Niknejad, and Mehdi Bahlooli, three former or current board members of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association (Tehran), Mahmoud Salehi, a member of the Committee to Pursue the Establishment of Labor Organizations, and Jafar Azimzadeh and Shapur Ehsani Rad, the president and a board member of the Free Workers' Union of Iran, are at risk of imprisonment. According to this organization, 'All these individuals have been sentenced to long prison terms of 5 to 11 years after severely unfair trials in revolutionary courts on baseless charges such as colluding and conspiring against national security, propaganda against the regime, disrupting public order, and forming groups aimed at undermining national security.' According to the report, Osman Ismaili, a labor activist who was sentenced to one year in prison by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Saqqez in Kurdistan, is awaiting the outcome of his appeal hearing that took place a few months ago. Amnesty International pointed out that the prison sentences for these activists were issued due to their peaceful trade activities, such as 'holding peaceful gatherings including on International Workers' Day, peaceful protests against low wages, posting photos of labor protests online, receiving invitations to participate in international labor union meetings, signing statements in support of labor unions, and collecting signatures to demand an increase in the minimum wage.' Security and judicial crackdowns on workers and labor activists in Iran continue even as the Islamic Republic has expressed its agreement with International Labor Organization conventions regarding the freedom of workers to organize.