Farzaneh Zilabi, a lawyer representing workers in their dispute with a sugar company in southwest Iran, has been sentenced to prison and exile.
The Revolutionary Court of Ahvaz sentenced Farzaneh Zilabi to one year in prison and two years ban on traveling abroad.
Zilabi’s lawyer, Nasser Zarafshan, said she has been convicted of “spreading propaganda against the regime”. He stated that the decision was a “punishment for defending the workers”.
In May 8, 2021, Zilabi was taken to court for representing the workers of the Haft Tappeh sugar mill, near the southwestern city of Shush.
She was summoned to Branch 12 of the Magistrate in Ahvaz, charged with “assembly and collusion against national security,” “propaganda against the state,” “spreading falsehoods” and “membership in an anti-state group,” and suspended from practicing law for six months.
Since 2018, workers at the company have waged rallies and strikes over frequent delays in wage payments and the reduction of health and retirement benefits, and strongly opposed the sale of the company to private owners.
Zilabi’s strong defense of several people who were prosecuted for participating in and reporting on the protests made her a target of the judiciary and security establishment.
In the past months, several lawyers were handed unjust prison sentences amid an ongoing campaign to crush due process for dissidents by prosecution of the defense attorneys who defend them.
