During the past few days, a Kurdish labor rights activist activist known as Osman Ismaili (released on 17 April after two months of imprisonment at Saqqez prison) went on a re-trial on charges of “propaganda against the regime through interviews with foreign media abroad”.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has been informed that on Apr 21, 2018, Osman Ismaili has been subjected to a re-trial in Saqqez Court (Branch 3) for propaganda against the regime through interviews with foreign media abroad” just five days after his release from Saqqez prison.
The new charges were brought against him Saqqez Intelligence Service due to the interview of this activist with the foreign media regarding the situation of labor rights activists known as Mahmoud Salehi, Reza Shahabi and others. The judge of branch 3 also questioned this activist about one of his interviews in which he had called the arrest and imprisonment of Mahmoud Salehi by the Intelligence Service a shameful act.
In part of his defence, the content of which has been also published on his Facebook page, he stated that:
Mahmoud Salehi, Reza Shahabi and other political prisoners and detained workers supporters should not be in prison. As a human being, I know my duty is to defend them. Besides, no judicial authority had prohibited me from having interviews. Dear Judge, May I ask you why should the Ministry of Intelligence arrest a sick person and a dialysis patient after dialysis without any notice in the hospital’s yard? Mr. Judge, the news of the arrest of Mahmoud Salehi was immediately circulated in the cyberspace and among the people, so everyone in the community was worried about them. I also became aware of this issue and considered my human duty to defend Mahmoud Salehi and all such political prisoners. Dear Judge! Why should you arrest a person who is suffering from kidney and heart disease? This person has devoted his life to humanity and spent the liberation of the working class. Why shouldn’t I defend him as a laborer myself? Why should I wait for the death of a dear friend and then cry over his grave? That person not only is my fellow man, but also he defends the working class. The working class serve all the people in the community, but laborers do not benefit from their own services. What is this country that has deprived the working class? Mr. Judge, I grew up as a child laborer and thousands of people like me have entered the labor market since childhood. We build nurseries, schools, and houses but our kids are deprived of these facilities.
Osman Ismaili introduced himself to Court Enforcement Office for serving his 2 months imprisonment sentence on February 04.
The security forces went to his house after ten days of his release in order to arrest him on the new charges.
Osman Ismaili was arrested by security forces on Tuesday, April 28, 2015, on the eve of the International Labor Day during construction work in Saqeez. He was interrogated for 12 days at the Detention Centre at the Sanandaj Intelligence Bureau. This labor rights activist was subsequently released on Saturday, May 09 2015, on a bail of 72-million-Rials.
The hearings of this labor rights activist was held at the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Saqez (Branch 1) headed by judge Seyed Jafar Rahimi on September 1 and 2, 2015. On February 05, he was sentenced to one year in prison on charges of “Cooperation with the opposition groups against the Islamic Republic of Iran and membership in the communist group of Komala.
He contested the verdict and his case was heard at the Sanandaj Court of Appeals (Branch 4) on Monday, March 07 2017.
On May 25 of 2017, the sentence reduced to a two-months in prison by the Sanandaj Court of Appeals.
