Ali Nejati, a labor activist and former member of the Haft-Tappeh Sugarcane Workers’ Syndicate, has received a new notification revoking a pardon previously granted to him. This decision has resulted in the reopening of his legal case, as well as the seizure of his bank accounts and vehicle.
According to Kolbarnews Payam Derafshan, Ali Nejati’s legal counsel, provided details about the current status of his client’s case. Payam Derafshan stated that Nejati had initially benefited from a special pardon proposed by the Judiciary Chief and approved by the Supreme Leader, which applied to Haft-Tappeh workers. As a result, Ali Nejati’s bail was returned, and legal actions were halted. However, it has recently been claimed that the pardon only applied to active factory workers, excluding Ali Nejati due to his retirement at the time.
Payam Derafshan further noted that Ali Nejati, who suffers from severe heart conditions, was released during his initial detention on the orders of the Shush prosecutor. Despite this, his bank accounts and vehicle have now been seized, and his legal case has been reactivated.
The lawyer emphasized that the petition for judicial review argues that if exceptions to the pardon existed, they should have been explicitly stated. He questioned the basis for retroactively citing Nejati’s retirement as a reason to disqualify him from the pardon after several years.
In June 2020, Farzaneh Zilabi, the legal representative for Haft-Tappeh workers, reported that the Judiciary’s Public Relations Office had confirmed that workers Ismail Bakhshi, Mohammad Khani Far, and Ali Nejati—each previously sentenced to five years in prison—were included in the pardon list. However, in February 2020, Nejati was summoned to the First Branch of the Evin Prosecutor’s Office to serve his sentence.
It should be noted that Ali Nejati was arrested on November 29, 2018, in connection with the workers’ protests at the Haft-Tappeh sugarcane complex. He was eventually released on February 2, 2019, after two months of detention, on medical grounds and pending further legal proceedings.
