Iran: workers defy ban to celebrate May Day; 10 arrested

Ahead of May Day, the authorities turned down numerous applications for permits to hold rallies, and on 23 April arrested Sheis Amani, the head of the National Union of Dismissed and Unemployed Workers. Amani is still in detention.

Over 100 workers attended a rally in Sanandaj called by the Free Union of Iranian Workers. The event had to be held in the outskirts of the city as the authorities had refused to grant permits for rallies in downtown Sanandaj. A resolution, outlining workers’ major demands, including release of jailed workers, was passed amid continuous claps by the crowd. However, after the ceremony, the security forces arrested seven workers, who have been named as:

Salah Zamani

Shiva Kheir Abadi

Abdollah Najjar

Ghaaleb Hosseini

Ali Hosseini

Bahaoddin Sadooghi

Susan Raazani