Arrest of labor activist Mohammad Ahyayi in Karaj

Committee of Human Rights Reporters – The wave of arrests of labor activists continued as Mohammad Ahyayi, a worker at an automotive company in the outskirts of Tehran was detained on Saturday May 4th.

According to CHRR per reports from news sources in Karaj, in the afternoon of Saturday May 4, 2013, Mohammad Ahyayi was about to leave his workplace when he was summoned to the factory’s offices, questioned by several plainclothes officials and detained.

Reports indicate that a few months ago Mohammad Ahyayi and several other protesting labor activists were planning on going on strike due to disputes over wages and the management of the factory. Police presence became heavy at the facility and the agents clashed with the factory workers.

On Saturday May 4th, security agents also raided the home of Mohammad Ahyayi while making threats and hurling insults at his family. After conducting a search of his residence, the agents confiscated various personal items including his computer.

There is no news of the whereabouts or situation of Mr. Ahyayi despite his family and friends’ efforts to obtain information by visiting the Karaj Revolutionary Court and the surrounding prison facilities.

In the past few days a number of labor activists have been detained; Mohammad Ghasemkhani and Bahram Saeedi from Tehran, Aran Zandi, Fardin Ghaderi, Shahpour Hosseini and Jalil Mohammadi from Sanandaj.