The Case of Mohammad Habibi, Imprisoned Teacher, Has Been Sent to the Revolutionary Court

According to Mohammad Habibi's defense lawyer, the case of this teacher and labor activist, who was arrested during a gathering ten days ago, has been sent to court in an "unconventional" process. At the same time, a number of Iranian users also launched a Twitter storm on Friday evening demanding the release of this teacher. Hossein Taj, Mr. Habibi's lawyer, told ISNA news agency on Saturday, May 29, that during the teachers' labor gathering held on May 20 in many cities including Tehran, "initially 16 of these teachers, including my client, were arrested," but all of them except Mohammad Habibi were released after a few days on a bail of 50 million tomans. According to Mr. Taj, last Tuesday, a bail of 100 million tomans was issued for this imprisoned teacher, but despite the Habibi family's readiness to post bail, the next day they were told in an "unconventional process... that the case has been sent to the Revolutionary Court." The defense lawyer of Mohammad Habibi stated that the manner of his arrest was also "very unconventional." Sadiqeh Pak-Zamir, Mr. Habibi's wife, told the news website "Jameh Now" on Thursday that after several days of follow-up, she was finally able to see her husband for "only five minutes" at Evin Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday. Ms. Pak-Zamir described her husband's condition during that visit as "very unpleasant" and referred to his "bare feet," "torn clothes from being beaten on the day of his arrest," and "obvious bruising," stating that "his right foot was limping." According to the same report, Mohammad Habibi told his wife that his request for shoes and clothes had also been ignored. Furthermore, on Friday evening, many Twitter users launched a Twitter storm with the English hashtag "#FreeHabibi," demanding the release of this teacher. According to Mr. Habibi's wife, he is currently being held in "Greater Tehran" prison (Fashafouyeh), and his case has been sent to the Revolutionary Court. Mohammad Habibi, a teacher's rights activist, was also violently arrested last year in March in Shahriar in front of the school where he taught, but was released after 44 days by posting a bail of 250 million tomans.