Free Trade Union of Iranian Workers in an announcement strongly condemned the kidnapping of Esmail Abdi from his home on Thursday, July 27.
Esmail Abdi, a senior member of the board of directors of the Teachers’ Trade Association of Tehran, who was temporarily released after a hunger strike, was kidnapped on July 27 and taken to ward 350 of Tehran’s Evin Prison.
Abdi had previously been sentenced by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran to six years’ imprisonment on the charges of “spreading propaganda against the system” and “gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security.” The charges stem from his trade union activities, including peaceful demonstrations held by teachers and members of the ITTA outside the Iranian parliament in May 2015 in protest against poor wages, low education budget, and imprisonment of teacher trade unionists.
