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Bus union leader attacked in bungled arrest attempt
3 May 2007
A prominent trade unionist in Iran has suffered an assault at the hands of unidentified men in a thwarted attempt to arrest him, it has been reported.
Mansour Osanloo, President of the ITF-affiliated bus union, Sandikaye Kargarane Sherkate Vahed, was assaulted on his way home after a May Day rally. The incident, during which Osanloo suffered an injured shoulder, occurred at the Seven-Tir metro station in Tehran. The men failed to present a warrant for his arrest; they were acting under orders from Colonel Zamani, a commanding officer of the security forces, it has been claimed. Osanloo resisted arrest, while passers-by and union colleagues, including Yaghoub Salimi, a union board member, helped to free him from the attackers. Salimi was later arrested, but was released shortly afterwards.
After the incident, Osanloo joined by other union members lodged a complaint with the civil court. It is understood they were told that the union should operate under the Islamic Labour Council, the government puppet organisation. No action was taken by the court.
Osanloo is no stranger to anti-union repression; over the past year and a half, he has been imprisoned twice – the first time for eight months. The ITF led an international campaign each time to help secure his release.
He is currently awaiting the verdict of a court hearing during which he was charged with “propaganda against the system and taking action against national security”.
Another member of the union, Gholamreza Gholamhosseini, is also awaiting the verdict on charges of “propaganda against the establishment”. He was arrested on 3 December last year and released on bail six days later.
Mac Urata, ITF Inland Transport Section Secretary, commented: “This is again a serious attack on genuine trade unions in Iran but it is not an isolated case; other independent workers’ groups have also been subjected to attacks.
“We will coordinate our actions with the International Trade Union Confederation and global union federations to campaign for democracy in Iran.”
Bilal Malkawi, ITF Arab World Offices, commented: “Unions have faced death threats and have even been murdered because they are defending workers’ rights. But in the end we always achieve victory. Our brothers in Iran will succeed in the end.”
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