{"id":1185,"date":"2017-12-19T18:39:38","date_gmt":"2017-12-19T18:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1185"},"modified":"2017-12-19T18:40:32","modified_gmt":"2017-12-19T18:40:32","slug":"irans-judiciary-should-free-labor-activist-reza-shahabi-who-suffered-stroke%e2%80%8b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1185","title":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s Judiciary Should Free Labor Activist Reza Shahabi Who Suffered Stroke\u200b"},"content":{"rendered":"

Labor activist Mohammad Jarrahi died in October 2017 from thyroid cancer that was left untreated while he was held as a political prisoner in Iran\u2019s Tabriz Prison. In September 2015, Jarrahi\u2019s colleague Shahrokh Zamani died of a heart attack after being denied medical care in Rajaee Shahr Prison.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

December 19, 2017\u2014The Iranian judiciary should immediately free ailing trade unionist\u00a0Reza Shahabi<\/a>, who recently suffered a stroke in\u00a0Rajaee Shahr Prison<\/a>, and allow him to receive full medical attention, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said in a statement today.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shahabi, a board member of the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (UWTSBC), was denied hospitalization after the stroke, according to a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0by the UWTSBC published on December 14, 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDuring a prison visit on Wednesday [December 13, 2017], his relatives noticed that the left side of Shahabi\u2019s face was drooping and that his left eye had sunken in,\u201d reported the UWTSBC. \u201cHe said that when he went to the prison clinic, the doctor told him he had suffered a mild stroke.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Political prisoners in Iran<\/a>\u00a0are singled out for\u00a0harsh treatment<\/a>, which often includes\u00a0denial of medical care<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRepeatedly we hear of political prisoners suffering irreversible consequences after being denied medical care in Iranian prisons,\u201d said CHRI\u2019s Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere seems to be no limit to how far the judiciary will go in punishing Iranian citizens for engaging in peaceful activism,\u201d said Ghaemi.<\/span><\/p>\n

Labor activist\u00a0Mohammad Jarrahi<\/a>\u00a0died in October 2017 from thyroid cancer that was left untreated while he was held as a political prisoner in Iran\u2019s Tabriz Prison. In September 2015, Jarrahi\u2019s colleague\u00a0Shahrokh Zamani<\/a>\u00a0died of a heart attack after being denied medical care in Rajaee Shahr Prison.<\/span><\/p>\n

On numerous occasions, intelligence organizations and the judiciary have treated labor activism as a national security offense in Iran. Independent labor unions are not allowed to function, strikers are often fired and risk arrest, and labor leaders are consistently prosecuted under catchall national security charges and sentenced to long prison terms.<\/span><\/p>\n

A source with contacts inside\u00a0Rajaee Shahr Prison<\/a>\u00a0in the city of Karaj where Shahabi is being held told CHRI on December 14 that Shahabi required medical attention before the stroke occurred.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShahabi has been suffering from frequent headaches, nose bleeds, and difficulty moving his hands, feet, and neck,\u201d said the source who asked not to be identified for security reasons.<\/span><\/p>\n

A board member of the UWTSBC, Shahabi, 45, was arrested in June 2010 and sentenced to six years in prison after being convicted of \u201cpropaganda against the state\u201d and \u201cassembly and collusion against national security\u201d for peacefully advocating labor rights in Iran. He was also banned from engaging in civic activism for five years.<\/span><\/p>\n

In September 2014, Shahabi was granted medical leave but nearly\u00a0three years later was informed that the time he had spent outside the prison on medical\u00a0furlough<\/a>\u00a0was not counted as time served and that he would have to return to the prison.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Shahabi returned to Rajaee Shahr Prison on August 8, 2017, he was told he would have to serve the five months that remained of his sentence before he was released on furlough, as well as a year for his alleged role in a\u00a0clash<\/a>\u00a0between guards and prisoners in Evin Prison on April 17, 2014, that left many prisoners injured.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to denying detainees in political cases their full due process rights, Iran\u2019s judiciary is denying them medical care,\u201d said Ghaemi.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s long past due for the Rouhani government to follow through on its election campaign promises and demand the judiciary and security forces stop trampling on citizens\u2019 rights,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

For interviews, contact:<\/span>
\n Hadi Ghaemi<\/span>
\n +1-917-669-5996<\/span>
\n hadighaemi@iranhumanrights.org<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Visit our website:\u00a0www.iranhumanrights.org<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

December 19, 2017\u2014The Iranian judiciary should immediately free ailing trade unionist\u00a0Reza Shahabi, who recently suffered a stroke in\u00a0Rajaee Shahr Prison, and allow him to receive full medical attention, the Center<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[148,144],"class_list":["post-1185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-rights","tag-reza-shahabi","tag-reza-shahabi-zakaria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1185"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1188,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185\/revisions\/1188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}