Iran: Two labor activists sentenced to serve time by the mullahs’ judiciary

NCRI – Mr. Mansour Osanlou, head of the executive committee of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (SWTBC) and his deputy Mr. Ebrahim Madadi have been sentenced to five and three years jail terms by the mullahs’ judiciary on the charges of "acting against national security," the state-run news agency ISNA reported yesterday. 

On July 10, 2007, in the course of his arrest by the State Security Forces and agents of Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), Mr. Osanlou was severely beaten leading to impairment of his vision. The operation on his eyes was agreed under pressure from his family and workers Union, which had expressed concern over his condition. The decision to take him back to prison regardless of his condition was taken by the notorious Judge Hassan Zare Dehnavi, known as Hassan Haddad, security deputy to Tehran’s prosecutor. Dehnavi has a long record of harassing political prisoners.

To exert even more pressure on Mr. Madadi, he was transferred from ward 209 of the notorious Evin Prison to Qazel-Hesar Prison which is designed for common criminals.

The Iranian Resistance calls on all international human rights organizations and labor unions, in particular, the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), to condemn the regime for its anti-labor measures and to take urgent action to free Messrs Osanlou and Madadi. 

Secretariat of National Council of Resistance of Iran
October 31, 2007