Zamaneh Media
  • Latest Articles
  • Latest News
  • About Zamaneh Media
    • Exiled Media Report
    • Sponsors
    • Donate
    • Contact us
    • Legal
  • Advertise
No Result
View All Result
  • Latest Articles
  • Latest News
  • About Zamaneh Media
    • Exiled Media Report
    • Sponsors
    • Donate
    • Contact us
    • Legal
  • Advertise
No Result
View All Result
Zamaneh Media
No Result
View All Result

Labor Activists Arrested after Speaking out against Torture in Jail

by Zamaneh Media
January 22, 2019
in Featured Items, Latest Articles
Reading Time: 3 mins read
2
Labor Activists Arrested after Speaking out against Torture in Jail

Esmail Bakhshi (left) and Sepideh Gholian (right)

Iranian labor Activist Esmail Bakhshi has been arrested again by Islamic Republic authorities after having spoken out against being tortured and abused in the course of his previous arrest. On 20 Jan, hours before Bakhshi’s arrest, Iranian security forces raided the house of civil activist, Sepideh Gholian, who was initially arrested along with Bakhshi in November and was also tortured in the same prison.

Sepideh Gholian (right) civil activist and Esmail Bakhshi (middle) and Ali Nejati (right), protesting workers, have all been forced to confess to relations with exiled dissidents on national television in Iran.

On the night of 19 Jan and before the two arrests, “20:30” a program on the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Television aired forced confessions of  Bakhshi, Gholian, and Ali Nejati, another political prisoner and labor activist.

“20:30” – a show affiliated with the country’s intelligence forces – has aired forced confessions of other political prisoners in the past.

The show about Bakhshi, Nejati, Gholian and the labor movement in Iran went on to say that the protesting workers in Iran are being directed by leftist groups in exile who are being supported by the United States. The directors then aired forced confessions of the three activist in which they each confess to having links to outside dissidents and networks of leftist groups.

Gholian immediately reacted to the broadcast on her Twitter account stating that the confessions were coerced.

Gholian’s lawyer has reported that Gholian’s home was subsequently raided following her twitter statement and she and her brother were arrested.

Gholian’s father has reported that his family was attacked at their home. While he and his wife were beaten, his son was thrown in the trunk of a car and taken away. He adds that upon inquiring at the prison about his son status, he was dismissed and threatened with arrest.

Who is Bakhshi?

Esmail Bakhshi, a leader of the protesting workers of Haft-Tappeh Sugarcane Agro-Industry was arrested first on 10 Nov 2018. On the same day, security forces arrested 18 workers and Gholian, who had gone to the protest to support the workers.

Esmail Bakhshi during the Haft-Tappeh labor protests

Bakhshi has become an icon of the workers’ protests in southern Iran. In Oct 2018, Bakhshi coined the slogan: “Bread, Jobs, Freedom” which has become the slogan of the labor protests across the country.

When temporarily released on a bail, Bakhshi wrote a letter and posted it on social media saying that he was beaten and tortured during 25 days of interrogation in Ahvaz prison under the control of Ministry of Intelligence.

Sepideh Gholian also wrote that she was tortured and that she witnessed Bakhshi being tortured.  Another activist Asal Mohammadi who was also in custody at the same prison testified in social media that she heard the sound of Bakhshi being tortured.

Esmail Bakhshi’s open statements about his torture and abuse during his arrest has triggered widespread support and led to revelations from numerous Iranian political prisoners publicizing their own accounts of abuse and torture in prison by Islamic Republic authorities.

The Ministry of Intelligence and the Judiciary in Iran have denied the allegations of torture in Iranian prisons. The authorities maintain that Bakhshi’s statements are part of a plan conceived by the regime’s enemies abroad to tarnish their image.

Dezfool Prosecutor has announced that Bakhshi has been arrested following an “effective operation” claiming Bakhshi was fleeing the authorities at the time of his arrest. Bakhshi was arrested in the middle of the night while at home with his family.  Special forces in four patrol vehicles raided his house.

Mansour Mohammadi Khabaz, Dezfool Prosecutor told Mizan Khabar that a warrant was issued for the arrest of Bakhshi. He denied that the police carried out an armed attack on Bakhshi’s house maintaining that Bakhshi was fleeing arrest and was arrested as a result of an “effective arrest operation”.

Haft-Tappeh Sugarcane Workers Syndicate has announced through its Telegram page that police armed forces stormed Bakhshi’s house at 11:55 pm on Sunday, January 20 and arrested the recently released labor activist. They add that Bakhshi has been taken to an unknown location; however, Dezfool Prosecutor has claimed that Bakhshi is being held at the Shush Court of Justice.

Media linked to the Revolutionary Guards has also confirmed the arrest claiming that the labor activist was involved in the so-called “torture fabrication project” masterminded outside of the country.

Meanwhile, a group of Iranian lawyers have written to Javaid Rahman, Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran expressing serious concerns regarding Bakhshi and Gholian, maintaining that their arrest is in violation of fair legal process.

Tags: Ali NejatiEsmail BakhshiHaft TappehHaft Tappeh SugarcaneHaft-Tappeh Sugarcane complexIran workerslabor rightslabor strikesSepideh GholianShush
Previous Post

Death of a Victim of Sexual Assault has led to Controversy about an Iranian MP Accused of the Crime 

Next Post

Iran’s Human Mules or Kulbars and their Onerous Means of Making a Living

Related Posts

Protests over Price Hikes in Iran Spread to Several Cities
Latest Articles

Protests over Price Hikes in Iran Spread to Several Cities

May 14, 2022
Civil Activists Arrested in Iran
Latest Articles

Civil Activists Arrested in Iran

May 9, 2022
Iran Detains Swedish Tourist in Suspected Retaliation
Featured Items

Iran Detains Swedish Tourist in Suspected Retaliation

May 6, 2022
Featured Items

ISNA: Swedish-Iranian professor to be executed in May

May 4, 2022
Latest Articles

Tensions between Iran and Sweden following the possibility of life imprisonment for a former Iranian official

May 2, 2022
Wage Suppression, Labor Strikes and Crackdown on Protests in Iran: Zamaneh’s Annual Labor Report is Out
Latest Articles

Wage Suppression, Labor Strikes and Crackdown on Protests in Iran: Zamaneh’s Annual Labor Report is Out

April 27, 2022
Please login to join discussion

RSS Iran in Other Media

  • Canada Soccer is paying Iran's team $400K to play in Vancouver, team official says - CBC News May 24, 2022
  • Ghadir: Iran's Mini-Submarines (Thanks to North Korea) - 19FortyFive May 24, 2022
  • Venezuela's Conviasa Launches Airbus A340 Flights To Iran - Simple Flying May 24, 2022
  • Gas Prices Are Sky High: Could Iran Double Oil Production? - 19FortyFive May 24, 2022
  • Saudi foreign minister says the kingdom's hands are 'stretched out' to Iran - CNBC May 24, 2022
  • Analysis: Subtle shift in U.S. rhetoric suggests new Iran approach - Reuters.com May 24, 2022
  • Touted As “World’s Biggest Firefighter Aircraft” – ‘Crippled’ Iran Sends Its Massive Plane To Help Pakistan - EurAsian Times May 24, 2022
  • Iran Drone Deal Aims For Afghan Security, Complicates Tajik-Kyrgyz Arms Race - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty May 24, 2022
  • Opinion | On Iran, Biden should reverse Trump's imaginary statecraft - The Washington Post May 24, 2022
  • State-sanctioned killings rise in Middle East as executions spike in Iran and Saudi Arabia - Middle East Eye May 24, 2022
  • Thousands attend funeral for slain Guard colonel in Iran - ABC News May 24, 2022
  • AGSIW | Bread Riots in Iran, Intransigence in Vienna - Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington May 24, 2022
  • Iran building collapse death toll at 11 - The Canberra Times May 24, 2022
  • At Cannes 2022, Iran's Holy Spider raises unholy smoke in theatre and outside - Hindustan Times May 24, 2022
  • I've been writing on Israeli intel for ages. Then Iran tried to kidnap me | Opinion - Haaretz May 24, 2022
  • Iran detains city mayor and others after building collapse kills at least 11 - Reuters.com May 24, 2022
  • Iconic Iran river threatened by droughts, diversions - Phys.org May 24, 2022
  • Fighter jet crashes in Iran, pilots killed - The Canberra Times May 24, 2022
  • Two Iranian Airlines Get Approval To Fly To Oman - Simple Flying May 24, 2022
  • Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe says Iranian authorities forced her to sign false confession as condition of release - CNN May 24, 2022
Zamaneh Media

© 2020 Zamaneh Media

More information

  • Sponsors
  • Donate
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Legal

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Latest Articles
  • Latest News
  • About Zamaneh Media
    • Exiled Media Report
    • Sponsors
    • Donate
    • Contact us
    • Legal
  • Advertise

© 2020 Zamaneh Media