Reza Rakhshan

(President of Board of Directors of Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company)

 Sentenced to Six Month Imprisonment

 

 According to a statement issues by Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company on December 1, 2010, Reza Rakhshan, the President of board of directors of Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company, was charged with “spreading lies” and sentenced to six month imprisonment by branch 13 of the Court of appeal at Ahvaz in Iran. This verdict was issued in spite of the fact that Reza Rakhshan had been acquitted of charge of spreading lies and disturbing public opinion in the court of first instance. Prior to the decision of the court of  appeal, other members of directors of the Syndicate and their family, in a joint letter addressed to the  court, had insisted that all activities of Reza Rakhshan was in the framework of his syndicate duties. They had also insisted that Reza Rakhshan’s public letter titled “We are all one Family “which was used as evidence against him, was not a personal act and therefore he should not be held responsible for the letter.  However, the court of appeal in Ahvaz ignored all the evidence provided and added some other items to the court file and charged Reza Rakhshan with spreading lies and sentenced him to six month imprisonment.

Reza Rakhshan, following Ali Nejati, is the second president of the board of director of Haft Tapeh Syndicate that has been sentenced to imprisonment since last year. Prior to this, other members of the board of directors of the syndicate, namely Freidoon Nikoufard, Ghorban Alipour, Mohammed Haidari Mehr and Jalil Ahmadi each had spent six months in prison because of their trade union activities.

 

In their statement, Haft Tapeh Syndicate stated that they believe that the court order is very harsh and unjust, and once again insisted on their rights to defend their livelihoods, their family and the basic rights of workers of Haft Tapeh Company. The syndicate of Workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company is an independent labour organisation established by workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Company in 2008 and is committed to promoting the duties that the company’s workers have assigned to it.

 

The IASWI strongly condemns this unjust sentence against Mr. Reza Rakhshan and call on all workers’ organizations and labour activists to support labour activists in Iran who are incessantly under attack by the anti-worker government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

     

International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran (IASWI)

[email protected]

[email protected]

www.etehadbinalmelali.com

www.workers-iran.org

December 1, 2010

 

 

Please use the sample protest letters below to send your protest letters to the Iranian government authorities:

 

Sample Protest Letter (Updated December 1, 2010): Free all jailed workers now    I (we) am (are) writing this to demand an immediate and unconditional freedom of all jailed workers and labour activists in Iran. The persecution of labour activists in Iran must be stopped immediately.   I (we) demand immediate and unconditional freedom of members of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company, including Reza Shahabi who has been in jail since June 2010 without trial, Gholamhossein Gholamhosseini who has been incarcerated since November 3, 2010, Morteza Komsari, arrested on November 23, 3020, Ali Akbar Nazri, jailed since November 29, 2010, in addition to Mansoor Osanloo and Ebrahim Maddadi who have been in prison since 2007.   I also demand an immediate end to persecution of members of the Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers' Organizations and the and The Committee to Pursue the Establishment of Free Workers' Organizations.  Sadigh Khosravi and Ibrahim Ismaili, two members of the “Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers' Organizations” have been incarcerated since November 8, 2010 while many other members of this committee are facing jail terms. other labour activists. Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, a member of “The Committee to Pursue the Establishment of Free Workers Organizations”, has been incarcerated in Evin’s division of 350 since June 12, 2010.     In addition, MR. Reza Rakhshan, the President of board of directors of Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company, has been sentenced to six month imprisonment on December 1, 2010 by branch 13 of the Court of appeal at Ahvaz in Iran for bogus charge of "spreading lies".   I (we) condemn the continuous gross attacks on human and workers’ rights in Iran. I (we) demand the immediate and unconditional freedom of all labour activists and political prisoners and call on the government to respect the right to organize, assemble and freedom of association and expression.     Name: Organization: Position: Send Copy of your Protest Letters to: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] CC: [email protected]   International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran (IASWI) [email protected]  [email protected] www.etehadbinalmelali.com www.workers-iran.org