Branch 31 of the Court of Administrative Justice upheld the dismissal of Somayeh Akhtarshemar, a labor union activist and teacher from Marivan, rejecting her appeal and confirming the initial ruling.
According to Kolbarnews, citing the Telegram channel of the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations, the dismissal of Somayeh Akhtarshemar, an activist teacher from Marivan, was upheld. On April 26, 2025, the Court of Administrative Justice deemed her objections unfounded and confirmed the Ministry of Education’s Board of Appeals decision to dismiss her.
This ruling had already been issued in October 2024, by the Board of Appeals of the Ministry of Education and had been contested by Akhtarshemar.
She had originally been dismissed in March 2024, by the Primary Board for Administrative Violations of Government Employees in Kurdistan Province.
The accusations against this teacher are numerous, including: “spreading offensive content and false news against the Islamic Republic,” “active membership in illegal teachers’ union channels in cyberspace,” and “posting provocative material in the teachers’ union channels of Marivan, Sarvabad, and the broader Iranian teachers’ network.” Another charge is “designing English exam questions in support of protesters and publishing them online.” Further accusations include “supporting opposition political parties and reposting related content online,” “sharing unveiled personal images and endorsing divisive slogans,” “publishing images of unveiled students alongside subversive slogans,” and “sharing photos of her child in clothing associated with opposition parties along with their slogans and flags.” Finally, “posting material in the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Unions channel” was also cited as a charge.
Somayeh Akhtarshemar, born in 1987 and married, had 17 years of experience as an English language teacher in the Ministry of Education.