Teachers’ Trade Union Leader – Trial begins in Tehran

The trial of Ismail Abdi, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association (ITTA), opened on Saturday 30 January at Branch 15 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court according to latest reports from Iran.

The charge sheet against Mr Abdi who has been in custody since June, includes charges such as participating in demonstrations of teachers, “colluding with intent to harm national security”, “propaganda against the regime” and “disturbing the public order”. All charges are directly related to Mr. Abdi’s activities as the general secretary of the ITTA and to organisation of and participation in protest demonstrations by the teachers’ trade union in late 2014 and the spring and early summer of 2015 demanding improvement in the pay and conditions of teachers.

Mr Abdi was prevented from leaving Iran on 21 June 2015 on his way to the Republic of Armenia to obtain a visa for travelling to Canada to participate in the Congress of Education International.  Mr Abdi was ordered to present himself at Evin prison in Tehran for interview about the circumstances relating to the confiscation of his passport at the border.  He was arrested and refused bail.  Trade unions across the world protested against Mr Abdi’s arrest and imprisonment, demanding his immediate release.  Leaders of Education International, the ICTU, TUC, NUT, UCU, NASUWT, UNISON and Canadian teachers’ unions sent letters of protest.

CODIR calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Mr Abdi and all other imprisoned trade union activists in Iran.

___________________________

Further Information CODIR has campaigned from the outset for the release of Mr Abdi and other teachers’ trade unionists in Iran.  For more background information about these and other cases, please see the September 2015 issue of Iran Today (https://codir.net/?p=122 ) and visit our labour news page at https://codir.net/?cat=3

 

Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Comments are closed.