Campaign in Support of Amir-Abbas Azarmvand!
September 12, 2021
On the morning of Wednesday, September 1, 2021, Amir-Abbas Azarmvand, an Iranian journalist in the field of labor and economics, was arrested on trumped-up charges of "propaganda against the state." Security forces confiscated his books, cell phone, and laptop. Amir-Abbas was interrogated in Ward 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran. Despite a heavy bail of 500 million tomans, Branch 2 of the Shahid Moqaddas Court (Evin) investigator told his father that he would not accept the bail until he completed the interrogation process. Judicial authorities have subjected Amir-Abbas and his family to psychological torture, trying to make him cooperate with security and police agencies.
Amir-Abbas Azarmvand is a freedom-loving and committed journalist. In 2009, at the age of 20, he was arrested and detained for taking part in the Green Movement, hoping to reform the repressive political situation after a rigged presidential election peacefully. He later saw this hope as illusory and in line with the status quo. He decided to support the daily struggles of workers and the underprivileged for a dignified life, jobs, wages, and the right to organize. Amir-Abbas Azarmvand began his journalistic career in the daily newspaper Qanun and continued in Etemad, Taadol, Samt, and Khabar Online. He wrote about the plight of underprivileged working women, child laborers, the conditions of drug users on the outskirts of the cities, the difficult living conditions of the working classes, and other economic and social problems in Iran, all the while exposing the mechanism of exploitation and systemic corruption that exists in the country.
In recent years, security officials have repeatedly intimidated Amir Abbas. In 2017, he was arrested and beaten severely in front of the Ministry of Labor for demanding the release from Evin prison of Reza Shahabi, a member of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company. In 2018, he was arrested again along with Keyvan Mohtadi, Roham Yeganeh, and two members of the bus union, Reza Shahabi and Hassan Saeedi. More recently, Amir-Abbas was detained at a rally to support the protests of the people of Khuzestan against water shortages in that province.
Instead of improving the living conditions of the workers, the government spends a great deal of money on pressuring and intimidating the unionists and labor activists. The campaign to defend Amir-Abbas Azarmvand calls on all labor activists, journalists, and freedom-loving people to support him. If we take a step back from our legitimate rights, such as the right to freedom of expression and reporting, they will push us tens of steps further back. By joining this campaign and expanding our support for this journalist and labor activist, by signing this petition, we demand the immediate release of Amir-Abbas Azarmvand.
Update: Thursday, 23 September 2021, based on news and images published on social networks, Amir-Abbas Azarmvand is released on bail.
Update - Wednesday, March 9, 2022, According to HRANA News Agency, the news organ of the Iranian Association of Human Rights Activists, on Wednesday, March 9, 2022, Amir Abbas Azramvand was transferred to the quarantined section of Evin Prison to serve his sentence. Security forces beat Mr. Azarmvand during a rally on International Women's Day on Tuesday, March 8. He was transferred to Branch 2 of the Evin Prosecutor's Office, headed by Judge Mahmoud Haj Moradi.
UPDATE, Tuesday, September 6, 2022On September 1, 2022, Free Azarmvand Campaign announced that Amir-Abbas Azarmvand needs immediate shoulder surgery. Even though the doctors at Taleghani Hospital had scheduled his operation, the security and judicial officials refused to send him to the hospital to access treatment.
Amir-Abbas Azarmvand was previously sent to Taleghani Hospital for radiology, and due to the severity of the injuries to his shoulder, the doctors scheduled his surgery. The injuries inflicted on Azarmvand's shoulder are related to his arrest on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, during the International Women's Day gathering in the City Theater area. On that day, he was violently beaten by ten plainclothes police officers. He is serving a three-year and seven-month sentence on the charge of assembly and collusion against national security and eight months imprisonment on the charge of propaganda activity against the regime.
#Free_AmirAbbas_Azarmvand
Recent events
-
See where all the votes are coming from
Province Number of signatures East Azerbaijan 0 West Azerbaijan 0 Ardabil 0 Isfahan 0 Alborz 0 Ilam 0 Bushehr 0 Tehran 0 Chahar Mahaal and Bakhtiari 0 South Khoresan 0 Razavi Khoresan 0 North Khoresan 0 Khuzestan 0 Zanjan 0 Samnan 0 Sistan and Baluchestan 0 Fars 0 Qazvin 0 Qom 0 Kurdistan 0 Kerman 0 Kermanshah 0 Kohgiluyehv And Boyer Ahmad 0 Golestan 0 Gilan 0 Lorestan 0 Mazandaran 0 Markazi 0 Hormozgan 0 Hamadan 0 Yazd 0 -
Latest signatures
-
-
started this petition
امضا با تلگرام