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Sepideh Gholian (Template:Lang-fa, born 1995) is an Iranian civil rights activist, journalist and prisoner of conscience from the city of Ahvaz.

Activitsm

On November 18, 2018 Gholian was reporting the labor protest organized by Workers Union of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Agro Industrial Company (Persian: شرکت نیشکر هفت‌تپه), when she was arrested by the Iranian security forces. Esmail Bakhshi, the spokesman for the union, and a dozen other trade unionists were also arrested during the protest. All of those arrested, except Gholian and Bakhshi, were released within days. Gholian and Bakhshi were held without charge or legal representation for 30 days and were eventually released on bail.

Torture

On November 29, 2018 while Gholian and Bakhshi were still detained, The Vahed Syndicate, a trade union representing over 17,000 transit workers, revealed in a statement that Esmail Bakhshi had been briefly hospitalized due to torture he had suffered while in government custody. Immediately upon release, Gholian confirmed that both her and Bakhshi had been subjected to torture by the security forces. Following their release on bail, Bakhshi and Gholian gave Amnesty International an account of the torture they suffered while in custody of police and ministry of intelligence officials in the cities of Shush and Ahvaz. They stated that they had been beaten, slammed against walls and shoved to the ground, as well as being humiliated and threatened with flogging, sexual violence and murder. Gholian Stated during her daily interrogation sessions, which started around 10am and lasted until the early hours of the following morning, intelligence officials repeatedly subjected her to sexual insults, calling her a “whore”, accused her of having sexual relationships with workers and threatened to have her family kill her “in the name of honour”. In response to public outrage various Iranian state organizations issued denials of Gholian's accusations and characterized her and Bakhshi as instruments of foreign interest.

The broadcast, recorded during their detention, contained videos of a visibly distraught Gholian and Bakhshi confessing to their crimes against the state. Gholian responded on Twitter that this broadcast is by itself further proof of torture. Bakhshi’s lawyer, Farzaneh Zilabi, described airing of these statements by his client as a violation of the law. “Airing this documentary is unjustifiable and unacceptable. Now that the confidential investigations in this fake case have been made public through a deceptive, selective and unfair documentary, Mr. Bakhshi wants an open and transparent trial,” She added that the airing of the program was a violation of Article 96 of Iran’s Criminal Procedures Regulations, which makes it a crime to publish the identity and image of the accused before they’ve been convicted of a crime.

Rearrest

Gholian and Bakhshi were arrested again on the following day. The timing of their arrest strongly suggests it an attempt to silence and punish them for speaking out about the abuse they suffered in custody. In a phone interview, Gholian's father told a reporter: "At 7 in the morning, 12 male and 2 female officers violently raided my home, broke my son's teeth, assaulted me and my wife, and told us they'd kill our daughter."

Abolfazl Ghadyani, A former veteran Islamic revolutionary turned dissident, singled out Ali Khamenei as the main culprit behind all wrongdoings and injustices against Bakhshi and Gholian.

See also

• 2018 Iranian general strikes

References

1. ^ "Labor Activists Say Detained Worker Tortured, Sent To Hospital". RFE/RL. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
2. "Union activists tortured in Iran as strike wave spreads". IndustriALL. 2018-12-06. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
3. https://ir.voanews.com/a/iran-human-rights/4751102.html ماجرای بازداشت دوباره «سپیده قلیان» بعد از پخش اعترافات اجباری
4. Lipin, Michael (January 28, 2019). "Britain-based Transport Union Urges Iran to Free Detained Labor Activists". VOA. Retrieved 2019-01-30. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
5. "Amnesty Criticizes Iran's Mass Arrests as US Frees Reporter". The New York Times. 2019-01-24. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
6. "Labour rights activists punished for speaking out on torture". www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
7. "Iran: Release Labor Activists Re-Arrested For Revealing They'd Been Tortured". Center for Human Rights in Iran. 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
8. "Iran: Prominent Labor Activist Rearrested". Human Rights Watch. 2019-01-24. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
9. "Iran arrests Ahwazi activist allegedly tortured in prison". Middle East Monitor. 2019-01-21. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
10. "Iran arrests labour protest leader". France 24. 2019-01-21. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
11. "Labour rights activists punished for speaking out on torture". www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
12. Alinejad, Massih (January 20, 2019). "Peyke Iran". پیک ایران. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
13. https://irannewswire.org/iran-state-run-tv-broadcasts-activists-forced-confessions-arrests-female-activist/
14. "Former Supporter Says Khamenei Behind Mistreatment Of Detainees". RFE/RL. Retrieved 2019-01-22.

• Iranian prisoners and detainees
• People from Ahvaz
• Iranian activists
• 2017–18 Iranian protests
• Living people
• 1995 births
• Workers' rights activists