For several years, the Survey has reported a ban on independent celebrations of the International Workers’ Day on 1 May, and ruthless crackdowns of such events. 2009 was no exception.
A number of Iranian workers’ organisations had established a 2009 May Day Organising Committee and planned a peaceful rally in Laleh Part, in Tehran. In the days prior to the event, security forces issued court summons, made threatening phone calls and placed workers and labour activists under surveillance. Hours before the start of the celebrations in Laleh Park, hundreds of uniformed police officers as well as plainclothes intelligence officials appeared on the spot. They positioned themselves inside the park and closed all its entrances. Nevertheless, over 2000 workers reportedly showed up for the event, scheduled for 5 pm.
The police attacked at 5.30 pm: a large number of participants were cornered, beaten to the ground with batons, tear-gassed, punched, kicked and verbally abused. The police also broke cameras and cell phones of anyone trying to document what was happening. There were reports of severe injuries, and an estimated 150 to 200 people were arrested (including other activists such as women’s rights defenders, students, and even some inadvertent bypassers) and most of them taken to Evin prison. About 100 activists remained in custody for days or weeks, and the authorities said they would not be released until after the presidential elections. A few more people were arrested later in connection with protests over the continuous detention of their family members. However, almost everybody had been released by the first half of June.
Ali Reza Saghafi, a journalist known for his incisive commentaries on trade union rights and chairman of the Centre for Defending Workers’ Rights, was also arrested along with his son Mohsen. They were released on bail from Evin prison after one month, but were to report to the Revolutionary Court for hearings in November. Saghafi had also been arrested for one day in 2008, and was re-arrested at the end of the year.
The last remaining May Day detainee, Mehdi Farahi Shandiz, remains in Evin prison, sentenced to eight months for “offending the supreme leader”. He is currently awaiting multiple trials for charges in connection with his participation in May Day and his gathering of signatures to free Mansour Osanloo.
In a separate event, a meeting of the Consumer Cooperative of the Metal Workers and Mechanics Union in Nematabad, south Tehran, was dispersed and many people were arrested. Some people were released immediately, but eight trade unionists were held in custody for over a month, their bails set to exorbitant amounts of 20 – 100 million toman (the equivalent of EUR 14-70 thousand). All eight were released on bail by mid-June.