Sepideh Gholian is a student, social rights’ activists and journalist who was arrested on November 18th 2018 while she was supporting and reporting on the strike of the Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Workers in the city of Shush, over unpaid wages and alleged criminal activity by new private owners. Since her detention, Sepideh Gholian has been beaten and tortured inside the Iranian regime’s dungeons. Sepideh Gholian was finally freed on December 18th 2018 after a 500 million toman ($119,000) bail was put up. Iranian State TV broadcast a programme claiming that Sepideh Gholian and Esmail Bakhshi, another activists and labour protest leader who supported the Haft Tapeh strikers, had connections with Europe-based activists who "aim to topple the state". On January 20th, 2019, the Iranian regime’s security officers re-arrested Sepideh Gholian. The security officers had gone to Sepideh’s parental home to arrest her. Since they had no warrant for arresting Sepideh, her brother, Mehdi Gholian, resisted her arrest. He asked them to get an arrest warrant. Their response was to beat him and then arrest both Mehdi and Sepideh. Esmail Bakhshi was arrested on 20 January 2019, as well. “The timing of their arrest strongly suggests it is part of a sinister attempt to silence and punish them for speaking out about the horrific abuse they suffered in custody,” Philip Luther, research and advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

Further Reading:

• https://shahrokhzamani.com/2019/01/20/sepideh-mehdi/