Teachers', Retirees', and Workers' Unions Support 'Campaign for the Freedom of Rasoul Badaghi'

Several teachers', retirees', and workers' unions in Iran have announced their support for the 'Campaign for the Freedom of Rasoul Badaghi,' calling for the release of this 'true and rightful' imprisoned teacher. The unions of teachers from Fars and Islamabad-e Gharb stated on Friday, July 29, that 'this is the voice of thousands of teachers who have taken to the streets, shaking the ground with their cries for the imprisoned teacher to be freed.' The Iranian Retirees Council, the Nationwide Union of Workers and Retirees of Iran, the Coordinating Council of Teachers' Unions of Iran, and the Free Workers' Union of Iran have also expressed their support for this human rights campaign. The campaign for Rasoul Badaghi's freedom condemns the 'injustices inflicted' on this imprisoned teacher, recalling his nine years of imprisonment over the past 14 years, and demanding 'an end to the compounded oppression and suffering inflicted on him and his family.' The campaign's statement refers to his arrest and dismissal from work in December 2009 and his seven years in prison without even a single hour of leave, adding that Rasoul Badaghi was arrested and imprisoned again in May 2022. According to this statement, this teachers' union activist has been deprived of leave for more than two years, except for four days, and 'the efforts of his lawyers for his release have been in vain due to the rejection of the retrial by the Supreme Court,' and recently his phone calls have also been restricted. A part of the campaign's statement reads: 'Despite all the hardships inflicted on Rasoul Badaghi, he never complains about the injustices done to himself, but regarding the violation of the rights of teachers and students, the lack of modern and proper education in Iran, and educational inequalities, his voice has been louder from prison than all other activists in this field.' Mohammad Habibi, a member of the Coordinating Council of Teachers' Unions, stated in an interview with 'Emtidad' earlier this year that 61 teachers are facing open legal cases, 10 teachers have been released from prison with electronic ankle bracelets, and some are still in prison. The suicide of a schoolgirl due to inability to cover university expenses, the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Mamassani summoned four teachers' union activists from Fars province, at least five teachers' union activists have been sentenced to imprisonment, and the ruling for the dismissal of Aziz Qasemzadeh from education has been stated by the Administrative Justice Court as 'with reduction.'