Workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company Rally on International Workers' Day; Ismail Bakshi Must Return to Work

A number of workers from Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company gathered on Wednesday, May 1, to commemorate International Workers' Day. During this gathering, Ebrahim Abassi-Manjazi, a representative of the Haft Tappeh workers, emphasized the necessity of Ismail Bakshi's return to work, a representative of the workers of this company, and also insisted on the complete transfer of this unit to the Sugarcane Development Company and its subsidiary industries. Mr. Bakshi has been unable to return to work at Haft Tappeh since his arrest in the fall of 2018, where he was forced to make televised confessions and imprisoned on security charges. Since then, the demand for Bakshi's return to work has been repeatedly raised by the workers of Haft Tappeh or their representatives, but according to reports, security and judicial authorities, especially in Khuzestan province, have obstructed this issue. According to the independent channel of Haft Tappeh workers, Ebrahim Abassi-Manjazi stated: 'Our priority is the return of Ismail Bakshi to work, which has been hindered by non-worker-related organizations over the past few years,' and emphasized that preventing his return to work is illegal. In another part of his speech, this representative of Haft Tappeh workers addressed the current conditions in Iran, discussing the costs that workers, teachers, and nurses have endured, and referred to the situation of Ismail Bakshi and several teachers imprisoned on security charges. He also mentioned: 'A 16-year-old girl protests with her hair, and added: They see the hair of a 16-year-old girl and women, but they do not see financial corruption.' Mr. Abassi-Manjazi referred to the case of Babak Zanjani, whose death sentence was annulled with the approval of the head of the judiciary and the agreement of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and converted to 20 years in prison. The judiciary announced that Babak Zanjani, who was sentenced to death for 'embezzlement and financial corruption,' might be released after 10 years upon 'paying debts.' This is while the judiciary of the Islamic Republic executed the punishment of cutting off the fingers of a prisoner accused of stealing five sheep last winter. Ebrahim Abassi-Manjazi continued his speech regarding the strike and gathering of workers at the 'Parch Nature Cellulose Paper' factory for about two weeks, stating that 'ineffective privatization is an enemy of the worker,' and urged the workers of this factory to stand firm to expel 'privatization' like the Haft Tappeh workers. He noted that the efforts of the workers and their unity and collaboration over the years have defeated the government's privatization policy of this company. However, according to this Haft Tappeh workers' representative, no positive results have yet been achieved from the transfer of this unit to the Sugarcane Development Company and its subsidiary industries. He referred to the production of 800,000 tons of sugarcane and stated that due to the incomplete transfer to the Sugarcane Development Company and its subsidiary industries, no effort was made to produce the specified amount of sugar, which is 75,000 tons. Mr. Abassi-Manjazi emphasized that Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company must be fully transferred to the Sugarcane Development Company and its subsidiary industries.