Attack and arrest of twelve Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane workers

According to reports received from Shush city, the workers of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company have once again begun demonstrating in front of the Governor General's office.

This morning a large number of workers went to the Governor General's office in Shush and began demonstrating. At present their number is growing by the minute. The protesting workers are chanting slogans like: "Incompetent Governor, resign, resign", "Police force, shame, shame", "Monthly pay is our absolute right", "A livelihood and a life are our absolute right", "The workers are prepared to die but won't accept hardship".

An hour ago the security forces and the special guard attacked the protesting workers in front of the Governor General's office in Shush. They arrested twelve workers and took them to an undisclosed location. They behaved in a barbaric way while arresting them. Right now the workers are present in the city and are determined to continue with their protests until their demands have been met.

The special guard, the police and security forces have once again begun patrolling the city in their vehicles and are trying to create an atmosphere of intimidation and fear by their manoeuvres.

The demands of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane workers are as follows:

• Payment of three months' unpaid wages.
• An end to the gathering of legal dossiers and summoning workers to court.
• Sacking the general manager of the company, a mollah named Yaghoob Shafiee, and the whole management committee.
• Sacking the security chief of the company, a person named Zibdari, who has had a direct role in the beating, spying and gathering of dossiers on workers.

We must keep up the pressure on the management of this state-owned company and the Iranian government to stop the repression, to accept all the workers' demands and to drop all charges against them.

Iranian Workers' Solidarity Network
26 May 2008

[Source: Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran]

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