Workers' Liberty

Iranian trade unionist Mansour Osanloo has been arrested again. Osanloo is president of the trade union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, and was only released on bail in August after a long campaign of intimidation by Iranian police and state security agents that has seen him and colleagues brutally arrested and meetings violently broken up.

According to the ITF international transport federation, despite the injuries he had previously sustained Mansour Osanloo was bundled into a car by pistol firing unidentified plain clothes security officials on 19 November. At the time of the arrest, he was with two colleagues on their way to the Ministry of Labour. He was approached by about at least five plain clothes agents who told him he was under arrest. When he asked them to show their identification cards and warrant for his arrest they refused and started beating him and pulling him towards a car. When one of his colleagues asked to see ID he was also abused, punched and had a gun pointed at him. After firing a shot in the air, the men forced Osanloo into a car and drove off.

Osanloo had an eye operation last Thursday following injuries he sustained during a previous arrest and his eye was heavily bandaged. He was due to attend a court hearing today to answer charges levelled against him and about 16 other union members by state prosecutors regarding the bus workers' job action last year.

Neither his wife nor his lawyer has any information on where he has been taken. News of his arrest has been reported by official news agencies.

Letters of protest can be sent through Labour Start