Free Alireza Hashemi, Head of Iranian Teachers Organization, Sentenced To 5 Years
- Target:
- UN, Ban ki-Moon, OHCHR, Navi Pillay, Ahmed Shaheed, State Department, EU, European Parliament
- Region:
- Iran
- Website:
- en.radiozamaneh.com
Radio Zamaneh, April 21, 2015: Reports from Iran indicate that head of the Teachers’ Organization, Alireza Hashemi, has been arrested and transferred to Evin Prison in connection with a court sentence issued against him five years ago.
ILNA quotes a spokesperson for the organization saying that in 2010, the head of the organization was handed a five-year prison sentence for what he described as “pursuing the rights of teachers and families who visit jailed teachers”.
The report indicates that he was charged with “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the regime”.
Hashemi was reportedly arrested on Sunday April 19 at his home.
ILNA writes that Hashemi was previously arrested in 2006 at a teachers’ protest in front of Parliament. He was reportedly sentenced to three years in jail, but the sentence was withdrawn upon appeal.
Teachers across Iran have been engaged in widespread protests in recent months, demanding that their wages be brought into line with those of other government employees.
WHEREAS: Alireza Hashemi has been imprisoned on a five-year sentence imposed in 2010 imposed solely for peaceful activism on behalf of teachers and their families, and is therefore a prisoner of conscience;
AND WHEREAS: The imprisonment of Alireza Hashemi is therefore ILLEGAL under Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (to which Iran is a signatory) as well as Article 24 of the Iranian Constitution;
THEREFORE: We, the undersigned, demand that the international community bring all possible pressure to bear upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to IMMEDIATELY and UNCONDTIONALLY release Alireza Hashemi from prison, rescind the illegally imposed five-year prison sentence, and drop all charges against him.
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The Free Alireza Hashemi, Head of Iranian Teachers Organization, Sentenced To 5 Years petition to UN, Ban ki-Moon, OHCHR, Navi Pillay, Ahmed Shaheed, State Department, EU, European Parliament was written by John S. Burke and is in the category Human Rights at GoPetition.