Sara Siyahpour Dismissed from Education Ministry After Six-Year Prison Sentence

The body investigating "administrative violations of employees of the Education Ministry in Alborz Province" has ruled to dismiss Sara Siyahpour, a teacher and labor activist. Ms. Siyahpour, who has also been sentenced to six years in prison for participating in protests, has approximately 17 years of teaching and educational assistant experience. The Coordination Council of Teachers' Trade Unions reported that the charges against Ms. Siyahpour in her dismissal include "participating in teachers' gatherings and sit-ins," "participating in and supporting the Women, Life, Freedom campaign," and "using a humorous sticker of the founder of the Islamic Republic's statements and forming a non-cooperative group with 14 female colleagues on social media." This ruling was issued by the body overseeing "administrative violations of Education Ministry employees in Alborz Province," and she has the opportunity to appeal. Ms. Siyahpour had published a photo without compulsory hijab on her account and supported the protesters. The pressure on this labor activist comes as a court of appeals confirmed her six-year prison sentence last July. In the Revolutionary Court, she was sentenced to five years in prison for "collusion and conspiracy against national security" and one year for "propaganda against the regime." Additionally, she was sentenced to two years of travel ban and two years of prohibition from membership in political parties, groups, and activities in cyberspace. One of the issued rulings and prosecutions against Sara Siyahpour occurred when she was arrested by the IRGC intelligence in September of last year during the peak of protests and was temporarily released on bail shortly after. Reports indicate that she was deprived of having a chosen lawyer during the judicial proceedings. In recent months, pressure on labor activists and teachers has increased. Earlier, VOA reported that Atakeh Rajabi, a teachers' labor activist, was tried in the seventh branch of the Revolutionary Court in Mashhad. Additionally, Shiva Ameli-Rad, a former representative of the Teachers' Trade Association of Marivan, and Fariba Enami, a teacher from Gilan Province, have recently received dismissal orders. The continuation of dismissals of protesting teachers; the Coordination Council of Teachers' Trade Unions: Protests continue. The ongoing pressure on teachers' labor activists; Atakeh Rajabi was tried without studying the indictment. The widespread dismissal of university professors continues; the decline in the global ranking of universities and a new wave of migration. Exclusive; a labor activist from Kurdistan: The government's iron fist policy is doomed to failure.