Wife of Imprisoned Teacher Mohammad Habibi: We Are Worried About His Health

Mohammad Habibi, a member of the board of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association, was violently arrested on March 3rd in front of the school where he taught. According to his wife, when the authorities took Mohammad Habibi for a home inspection, he was again beaten by the officers. Khadijeh Pakdamir, Mohammad Habibi's wife, told Radio Farda that she has no news about his condition and is worried about his health. Khadijeh Pakdamir stated that Mr. Habibi was arrested on Saturday, March 3rd, in front of the school. The arrest occurred around 12:00 to 12:30 PM when the school had closed and students were leaving. A group of plainclothes officers showed Mr. Habibi a paper for a few seconds, stating that he was under arrest and that they had permission to enter his home for a search without showing identification. Mr. Habibi requested to wait for his wife, who was at the school until 2 PM. The officers forced him into a car using pepper spray on his eyes and threatened him with a gun during his resistance. After Mr. Habibi's arrest, they took him to his home for a search. At the entrance of the building, he was beaten so severely that neighbors called the police. They then forcibly entered the home and searched the entire place. When I arrived, they were inside, and I saw Mr. Habibi handcuffed with one eye severely injured and swollen. He recounted the entire incident, and they claimed he was at fault. The officers who arrested Mr. Habibi were plainclothes and had a paper stating they were from the Quds Force. When I asked for a warrant, they said that paper was sufficient. The reason for Mr. Habibi's arrest has not been disclosed yet; this arrest is significant for us and teachers for two reasons: first, Mr. Habibi's activities were entirely professional, legal, and peaceful, so we do not understand the reason for his arrest. The second aspect is the violence used by the officers during this arrest, which is completely unjustifiable. Mr. Habibi teaches welding at Andisheh Shahriar Technical School in the suburbs of Tehran. His activities in the Teachers' Trade Association are in the field of education and research, including writing educational and professional articles. He has 18 years of official teaching experience. During his activities, security or judicial authorities had threatened or summoned him several times. These summonses occurred just before holding professional gatherings, where they usually asked Mr. Habibi and other activists to cancel these gatherings. Since Mr. Habibi's arrest, he had a two-minute phone call, but we still do not know where he is being held. He himself did not know either. During the time Mr. Habibi has been detained, we or the family have gone to judicial authorities to follow up on his case, but they have not provided any information. Mr. Habibi has not had access to a lawyer yet, but we are ready to introduce one if allowed. Our request from the security or judicial authorities that arrested Mr. Habibi is that, given the level of violence used during the arrest, we are extremely worried about Mr. Habibi's life, and this concern increases as we currently have no information about his status. Unfortunately, the news we have heard in recent days about some prisoners has multiplied our worries. We are also concerned about potential case fabrication against him.