Sheys Amani, an executive member of the Union of Free Workers of Iran, has been arrested by Iranian authorities.
The union website reports that Amani was arrested on Monday at the Sanadaj courthouse, while he was following up on the cases of two detained workers, Sharif Saedpanah and Mozafar Salehnia.
The two detained workers, who belong to the Free Workers Union, were arrested two weeks ago.
On Monday, the families of the two detained workers and many other families gathered in front of the intelligence office to call for their release. Amani reportedly met with the authorities to clarify the charges against his colleagues and was subsequently arrested.
Amani, an employee at the textile mill in Kurdistan, has been the workers’ representative for several years and is a prominent labour activist in Sanandaj.
Four years ago, Amani, along with the whole executive committee of the Free Workers Union, was arrested for organizing a ceremony for International Workers Day and was sentenced to two and a half years in jail.
Sheys Amani’s sentence was overturned in the face of widespread protests during a visit to Sanandaj by the head of judiciary at the time, Ayatollah Shahroudi. Recently, the Sanandaj Justice Department revived those charges against Amani and informed him that the judiciary has decided to carry out the prison sentence.
