Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) summoned and interrogated Eskandar Lotfi, a teacher and guild activist from Mariwan, regarding his guild activities at Sanandaj for several hours.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has been informed that the IRGC has been summoned and interrogated Iskandar Lotfi for several hours on Nov 14, 2018 during the second round of teachers’ sit-in in Iran.
Eskandar Lotfi is one of the founder’s members of the Kurdistan Teachers’ Union and an inspector of the Council for the Coordination of Iran Teachers’ Union.
He had also been previously summoned and interrogated by security agencies several times for his guild activities. He was transferred to Ardebil from Marivan for three years by the Court of Administrative Violations of Sanandaj due to his efforts to encourage the teachers to participate in the sit-in.
In addition to the above, a number of other guild activists from other Kurdistan cities were also summoned by phone to security organisations.
The first round of this sit-in was held on Oct 15 and 16 with the call of the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers’ Union. Teachers in many regions of Iran carried out a sit-in at schools while holding up signs bearing slogans such as “Free education for all citizens”, “Educational justice” and “granting higher education certificates to teachers”, “salary increase in proportion to inflation”, “comprehensive insurance” “and” ending the imprisonment of teachers”.
Following the second round of sit-in in various cities of Iran, the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers’ Union released a statement regarding the participation of teachers in the sit-in at various cities of Kurdistan. According to this statement, the highest number of teachers participating in the sit-in belongs to Saqez where teachers at 40 schools have carried out the sit-in.
A teacher participating in this sit-in have told KHRN that the majority of schools in various cities and villages of Kurdistan have participated in this sit-in. Such protest has raged the security agencies which have turned into summoning and interrogating teachers to prevent them from carrying out their peaceful guild activities.