A Revolutionary Court in Iran has upheld the conviction of Mohammad Habibi, spokesperson for the Tehran Teachers’ Union, who had been sentenced to six months and one day in prison by a lower court.
Ramin Safarnia, the labor activist’s lawyer, announced the confirmation of the verdict on X, stating, “This conviction is related to Mr. Habibi’s protest against the mass poisonings in schools in 2022.”
Between late 2022 and early 2023, 13,000 students suffered from symptoms including nausea, fainting, headaches, coughing, breathing difficulties, and heart palpitations, with many requiring hospital treatment.
Hundreds of girls’ schools were targeted in what Amnesty International described as “a campaign that appears to be highly coordinated and organized.”
The poisonings sparked fear and anger among schoolgirls, their parents, and wider Iranian society, leading to calls for increased security measures at schools, with several principals reportedly asking parents to keep their children at home.
On April 5, 2023, just two months after being released from prison, Habibi was arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence for participating in teachers’ protests against the school poisonings.
He remained in the security wing 209 of Evin Prison until June of that year.
Habibi, along with other labor activists, has been arrested and imprisoned multiple times for his union activities and for defending the rights of teachers and students.
On January 10, he was tried in the Shahriar Revolutionary Court on charges of “assembly and collusion” for tweets and statements related to protesting the school poisonings and defending students’ rights.
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