Reyhaneh Ansarinejad, a member of the Coordination Committee to Establish Labour Organisations (CCELO), was sent to Evin prison to serve a four-year sentence on October 23rd 2023. Although the CCELO is legal, the Iranian regime’s intelligence services have used solitary confinement to coerce Ms Ansarinejad to make a forced confession.
According to the Trade Union of the Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company, the authorities have recently denied Ms Ansarinejad the right to visits by her child. Like other political prisoners, she has been subjected to severe physical torture, leaving visible bruises on her body (according to the Iranian Human Rights Society). This is despite her suffering from several medical conditions, including arthritis, after years of harsh working conditions in unsafe factory environments.
These additional punishments come after her solidarity with Sharifeh Mohammadi, another member of CCELO, was sentenced to death. Ms Ansarinejad expressed her support in a letter from prison: “Sharifeh’s crime is merely being courageous in defending workers’ rights … If being a member of this committee is [considered as] armed rebellion, then I should also be sentenced to death!”
The Shahrokh Zamani Action Campaign strongly condemns the arrest and continuing detention of Reyhaneh Ansarinejad and calls for her immediate and unconditional release. We urge all trade unionists, socialists and other political activists to help us in defending the rights of all workers, political prisoners and social rights’ activists in Iran.
Free all political prisoners in Iran!
Shahrokh Zamani Action Campaign
31 August 2024
