The Free Trade Union of Iran has issued a statement condemning the continued detention of Mehran Raouf, a British-Iranian labor activist who has been held in solitary confinement for six months.
On Sunday, April 18, the group highlighted the plight of the 65-year-old, who is being held by the Revolutionary Guards on Ward 2A of Evin Prison, saying he had been denied transfer to the public ward.
The Union warned that security forces intend to file "false and illusory accusations" against the activist.
Mehran Raouf is understood to have had only fleeting contact with a distant relative in Tehran, while his close family, who live outside Iran, have had no contact with him.
He was arrested at his home on October 16, 2020 by the Revolutionary Guards in Tehran and his personal belongings were seized. The charges against him remain unclear after six months.
The Free Trade Union of Iran counts more than 90 unions and trade unions around the world, including in Argentina, France and the United Kingdom, as well as 12 human rights organizations, which have so far publicly protested his detention and called for his release.
The Islamic Republic does not allow any form of independent organization of Iranian workers. The arrest and intimidation of unionist leaders and activists has been one of the regime’s mainstays in the suppression of dissent for the past four decades.
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British-Iranian Labor Activist Detained in Solitary Confinement for Six Months
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