More Iranian Teachers Summoned Amid Government Clampdown

Thousands have been arrested in the clampdown, with the judiciary handing down harsh sentences -- including the death penalty -- to protesters.

Five more teachers who supported anti-government protests in Iran have been summoned to the Revolutionary Court, the latest in a series of similar moves, including trials, of teachers in other cities across the country.

The Iranian Teachers' Union's Coordination Council has confirmed the collective summons of teachers and cultural rights activists in the central Iranian city of Yazd.

Three of the teachers, Ahmad Changizi, Mehdi Kalantari, and Hamideh Zare, were previously arrested following a nationwide teachers' rally in May 2022, which coincided with Teacher's Day in Yazd. The other two are Mansor Mirzaei and Mohammad Fakhralhosseini.

The charges levelled against the five teachers are similar to those brought against teachers and cultural rights activists during the collective trials in Shiraz and Ahvaz.

The offenses include "membership in groups with the aim of disrupting the country's security" and "assembly and collusion with the intention of disrupting internal security," due to their presence at a teachers' protest rally.

Eight teachers were tried in the Shiraz Revolutionary Court on June 10 and a week later found guilty and handed prison sentences ranging from between two years and five years.

One the teachers in Shiraz, Asghar Amirzadegan, was called to the Firozabad City Court of Justice before his sentence was issued by the Shiraz Revolutionary Court, so a suspended sentence he was previously issued due to his labor union activities could be executed.

The Iranian Teachers' Union's Coordination Council said in a statement that since May 2022, security institutions had "unsheathed the sword of repression against associations and trade unions of educators and are trying in every way and with any kind of false accusations to extinguish the bright sun of teachers' demands."

Unrest -- including several protests by teachers -- has rattled Iran since last summer in response to declining living standards, wage arrears, and a lack of welfare support. Labor law in Iran does not recognize the right of workers to form independent unions.

The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody in September for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly breathed new life into the unrest, which officials across the country have tried to quell with harsh -- and sometimes deadly -- measures.

The activist HRANA news agency says that more than 500 people have been killed during the unrest, including 71 minors, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.

Thousands have been arrested in the clampdown, with the judiciary handing down harsh sentences -- including the death penalty -- to protesters.

Source: Radio Free Europe, Staff, June 19, 2023

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