A number of labor activists including three women, Parvin Mohammadi, Haleh Safarzadeh and Valeh Zamani were arrested on Friday, April 26, 2019, in a gathering observing the International Labor Day.
On the eve of the International Labor Day, a number of labor activists who had gathered in Jahan-Nama Park located on Tehran-Karaj Highway were arrested and taken away to an unknown location.
Twelve labor activists were arrested. The names of nine of them were announced, among them Ms. Parvin Mohammadi, Vice President of the Free Union of Iran Workers, Ms. Haleh Safarzadeh, a workers’ activist, and Ms. Valeh Zamani, member of the Painters’ Syndicate of Alborz Province.
In a bid to prevent formation of any gathering on the International Labor Day, security forces have been cracking down on workers’ gatherings and arresting labor activists.
Parvin Mohammadi, Vice President of the Free Union of Iran Workers, was arrested on January 29, 2019, and was imprisoned in Evin Prison until March when she was released on bail.
She had been arrested for her activities in defense of the rights of Iranian workers. This workers’ activist has been re-arrested just for her participation in a workers’ gathering.
Ms. Mohammadi has published a number of open letters exposing the policies of the Iranian regime against the interests of Iranian workers.
In an open letter, the labor activist expressed her protest against the corrupt rule of the mullahs and announced her support for the workers’ protests and wrote, ” Shame on the rulers who responded with arrests and imprisonments to 38 days of cries of the steel workers of Ahvaz who demanded their rights. These workers cried out their pains every day on the streets. Their throats turned sore so much that they cried out for their rights.”
In another development, Ms. Sanaz Allahyari has been kept in detention without sentence after over 100 days. In the first 15 days of her arrest, the Ministry of Intelligence took her under interrogations and urged a heavy sentence for her. However, she has been kept in pre-trial status without sentence. Ms. Allahyari is under tremendous psychological pressure.
