The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) welcomes the release from prison of Reza Shahabi and Hassan Saedi, from the ITF-affiliated Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed), otherwise known as the Vahed union.
Shahabi and Saedi were released from the notorious Evin Prison on 1 September 2024, where they had been held since May 2022. Both were arrested for trade union activities and subjected to months of solitary confinement and interrogation. Their 6-year prison sentence was reduced following appeals.
“We are relieved that Reza and Hassan have finally been released by the Iranian authorities and returned to their families,” said ITF General Secretary Stephen Cotton. “We remain watchful over the situation in Iran and call for their colleagues Ebrahim Madadi and Davood Razavi to be set free without delay. We note with grave concern the urgent situation of labour activist Sharifeh Mohammadi, who has been sentenced to death, and call for her immediate release.”
In 2005, the ITF filed a complaint to the International Labour Organization (ILO) regarding attacks on the Vahed union by the Iranian government, including violent arrests of trade union members.
Shahabi has been arrested repeatedly for his trade union activities, spending years in jail since his first imprisonment in 2010. He suffered severe beatings at the hands of Iranian police, resulting in a need for spinal surgery. Campaigning by international human rights organisations and global unions including the ITF resulted in Shahabi’s temporary release from prison to receive medical treatment in 2013. However, after just three short months, he was returned to prison to serve out his remaining sentence.
“Our global union movement will not tolerate the persecution of trade unionists anywhere in the world,” added ITF Legal Director Ruwan Subasinghe. “We have brought our concerns with the treatment of Vahed union members to the ILO and the United Nations. We will continue to raise our collective voice on the global stage and campaign to ensure all governments respect basic civil liberties without which the concept of trade union rights becomes meaningless.”
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Media contact: media@itf.org.uk
About the ITF: The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is a democratic, affiliate-led federation recognised as the world’s leading transport authority. We fight passionately to improve working lives; connecting trade unions from over 150 countries to secure rights, equality and justice for their members. We are the voice for nearly 16.5 million working women and men in the transport industry across the world.
