Irán, República Islámica del - Imprisoned teachers’ rights advocate Esmail Abdi denied sentence review

The Iranian judicial authorities have denied a request for review of the heavy prison sentence handed down against Esmail Abdi, the former secretary general of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association (ITTA), the largest Iranian teachers’ organisation. Since November 2016, Abdi, a 44-year-old high school mathematics teacher, has been serving a six-year prison sentence for his peaceful activism in support of labour rights. Abdi was arrested on 27 June 2015 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ intelligence arm, a week after being barred from leaving Iran to attend an international teachers’ conference in Canada. In February 2016, Judge Abolqasem Salavati of the Revolutionary Court sentenced him to six years in prison for “propaganda against the State” and “collusion against national security”. The verdict was upheld upon appeal.
On 16 June 2016 Abdi ended his hunger strike after more than 30 days when judicial authorities agreed to consider reviewing his sentence. In a letter of 30 April 2017, Abdi announced his second hunger strike until his case was investigated outside the State security apparatus.

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