Summoning of a Lawyer to Prison and Trial of 4 Teacher Union Activists; 6-Year Sentence for Hamid Haji-Abdolpour Confirmed

Human rights and union sources have reported the summoning of Mehdi Shakibafar, a lawyer, to serve his sentence, alongside the confirmation of over 6 years in prison for Hamid Haji-Abdolpour, a former student activist, and the trial of 4 teacher union activists. The first branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Saveh has summoned Mehdi Shakibafar, a member of the Central Province Bar Association, to serve a sentence of 22 months and 17 days. This lawyer was acquitted of all charges in the primary court, including 'insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic,' 'spreading falsehoods,' and 'propaganda against the regime,' but his case was appealed by the prosecutor's office, leading to a conviction. Previously, Sina Yousefi, a lawyer, had told Voice of America about the pressures on lawyers in Iran, stating that the Islamic Republic sees 'the interests of the regime' in 'cutting off the hands of independent lawyers from the judiciary.' On the other hand, based on a copy of the ruling from the 20th branch of the Khorasan Razavi Court of Appeals published on the Telegram channel 'Amirkabir Newsletter,' the conviction of 6 years, 7 months, and 16 days in prison for Hamid Haji-Abdolpour has been confirmed. The charges against this former student activist include 'forming a Telegram group called Polytechnic Cry with the intent to disrupt national security' and 'propaganda against the regime.' According to this student union channel, Hamid Haji-Abdolpour, a graduate in polymer engineering, had previously reported being beaten during interrogation, held in solitary confinement, and coerced into making forced confessions, denying all charges against him. The channel 'Coordination Council of Teacher Union Organizations of Iran' also reported the trial of four members of the board of the teacher union in Bushehr Province in the fourth branch of the Bushehr Court of Appeals on Wednesday, August 15. According to this report, Mahmoud Malaki, Asghar Hajeb, Abdolreza Amani-Far, and Mohsen Omrani were previously sentenced to 2 years in prison along with supplementary penalties by the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Bushehr for 'acting against security through activities in the Bushehr Teacher Union' and 'holding a protest gathering.' Pressure on civil and union activists in Iran by the Islamic Republic has been consistently increasing, with a significant number of them arrested and imprisoned on security charges.