Hashem Khastar

Hashem Khastar (Persian: هاشم خواستار‎; born June 2, 1953) is a former teacher at the Agriculture Technical High School in Mashhad in northeastern Iran, and an agricultural engineer and the Head of the Mashhad Teachers Union.[1]

Hashem Khastar
Born (1953-06-02) June 2, 1953
Birjand, Iran
Known forHead of the Mashhad Teachers Union

Background

He has been detained several times for defending teachers' rights and participating in rally protests of teachers and recently having served a term from 2009 to 2011 in Mashhad's notorious prison, Vakilabad.[2]

He directly targeted the Leader of the Islamic Republic in a letter saying that “the root of the corruption and all the problems, was Ali Khamenei”, and that he had to be held accountable.[2]

Khastar was previously detained in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad and despite being threatened by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence on several occasion he had refused to cease his activities.[3]

On October 23, 2018 he disappeared in the city of Mashhad and is being detained by the Islamic Republic's Intelligence Ministry at a psychiatric hospital, his wife disclosed in an interview.[4][3] Hashem Khastar was released a few hours after being taken into custody on Monday, November 5, 2018.[5]

References
  1. Lipin, Michael. "Another Activist Detained in Iran's Crackdown on Teachers Unions".
  2. Farda, Radio. "Missing Teacher And Regime Critic Held At Psychiatric Facility".
  3. "Iran activist abducted by intelligence agents in Mashhad - Iran News Wire". 24 October 2018.
  4. "Iran Authorities Won't Explain Why Teachers' Rights Activist is Being Held Incommunicado in Mental Hospital – Center for Human Rights in Iran". www.iranhumanrights.org.
  5. "Hashem Khastar's Supporters Released from Custody". Hrana - News Agency. 2018-11-07. Retrieved 2019-05-18.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.