Statement of union of bus workers in Tehran &suburbs

In condemnation of the execution of Farzad Kamangar and four other political prisoners

We condemn intimidation & execution

We mourn the loss of a teacher whose weapon was only chalk and pen. He was teaching working class children, most of were hungry and went to bed with empty stomachs. His only crime was to defend human rights. An unforgivable crime which in this country has taken so many lives in the last 100 years.

In the last 4 years many national and international institutions had condemned the arrest and prison sentence of Farzad Kamangar, and more importantly had called for legal review of his case by a neutral side. Representative of some international organizations on several occasions had attempted to send a delegation to meet with Farzad,but they never succeeded .

Unfortunately Farzad’s family did not get a chance to see their beloved son in the last moment of his life. This execution occurred while people in our society have always condemned any kind of violence.

The labor movement in Iran and the world have lost a teacher who never stopped teaching even when he was in prison. We express our condolences to Farzad’s family and to working class people all over the world.

As we have repeated, we are against the death penalty and believe outlawed courts verdicts have no credibility .We want all activists of the civil movement including our union leader Mansour Osaloo and Madani to be released.

With the hope to spread peace and justice all over the world

Union of Tehran and suburbs bus workers.

May 2010