By Pooya Stone
On Tuesday, 2 July, Ali Nejati, member of the laborers syndicate of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Mill in Ahvaz, received his indictment in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. After their last court session, his dossier along with six others were sent to the revolutionary court of Tehran. The charges against Nejati, in this indictment were “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the government”.
On June 12, 2019, Amir Amirgholi, Sanaz Alahyari, Amir-Hussain Mohammadi-Far and Ismail Bakhshi, four other defendants in the same case currently detained in Tehran’s Evin Prison, were separately transferred to the revolutionary court of Tehran and informed of their indictment.
Security forces arrested Nejati on November 28, 2018, in connection with the strike of the workers of the sugar mill. He was temporarily released in January due to declining health conditions.
The workers of the mill had been on strike for several weeks in protest to unpaid wages, poor working conditions and lack of response from regime authorities. As the movement picked up momentum and support among other segments of the Iranian society, security forces staged a massive crackdown on the workers and arrested the organizers. According to various reports, several of the detainees were severely tortured during their incarceration.
On June 19, 2019, Farzaneh Zilabi, the lawyer for the detainees, including Nejati, was prohibited from seeing the case of her clients under the orders of Judge Mohammad Moghiseh, notoriously known for his harsh treatment of dissidents.
Therefore, in a note, Zilabi spoke of the court causing obstructions in her access to her clients’ cases and mistreatment by the judge.
