Teacher flogged by Iran's regime is re-arrested

"Each time the whip landed on my back, I cried out: No to the Islamic Republic!”

A boat of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) sails, at undisclosed place off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran August 22, 2019. (photo credit: NAZANIN TABATABAEE/WANA VIA REUTERS)
A boat of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) sails, at undisclosed place off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran August 22, 2019.
(photo credit: NAZANIN TABATABAEE/WANA VIA REUTERS)

The Islamic Republic of Iran last week re-arrested Javad Lal-Mohammadi, a teacher and human activist from Mashhad ,who was whipped during a previous incarceration for urging the resignation of the Supreme Leader of Iran's regime,  Ali Khamenei.

In a video posted online in August, Lal-Mohammadi said “For eight days I was in prison. Eight days they beat me. Each time they struck me I shouted: ‘No to the Islamic Republic!”’

The Middle East Media Research Institute posted the video and a translation of Lal-Mohammadi’s statements in August.

Lal-Mohammadi said that "Mr. Khamenei, you should pay attention and be careful. [Your] day is coming. Saddam was dragged out of his spider hole by the Americans, but you will be dragged out of the spider hole by the public. The day will come when, like Qadhafi. You will beg and say: 'you are my children,' but each piece of your flesh will be held by someone else. Mr. Governor of Khorasan Province, get lost! Go away from Khorasan. Mr. Head of Khorasan Intelligence, who flogs a teacher on his back — go away!”

Iranians on Twitter launched a hashtag campaign to secure Lal-Mohammadi’s release after his October re-arrest, tagging it  #FreeLaalMohammadi.

Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building in ViennaREUTERS/LISI NIESNER/FILE PHOTO
Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building in ViennaREUTERS/LISI NIESNER/FILE PHOTO

The outspoken teacher said in the video "Go away from this country! Mr. Head of the Education Department, you have stolen enough. You have cheated enough teachers. Enough! Go away! [President] Raisi, go to Hassan Nasrallah! Go to the Houthis of Yemen! Go to your friends!”

Lal-Mohammadi said "Mr. Khamenei, go away from this country! The people are tired of you. The people are tired of you all, because you have destroyed this country, and have filled it with filth. Honorable people of Iran, I spent eight days in their [prison] cells. For eight days, they flogged my body, the body of a teacher. My body was full of blisters. But in spite of them, I did not moan even once. They were hoping to hear a single moan from me, but in vain. Each time the whip landed on my back, I cried out: No to the Islamic Republic!”

While there are no independent labor unions in the Islamic Republic, the teachers sector has an organizational structure. There has been significant labor unrest in the education field.

In September, teachers protested in front of the Iranian regime’s parliament over low wages and repression imposed on students and teachers, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran.

"The only way to fix this country, is for those people to go away and for this country to be liberated. If you want to do something, join hands, create a human chain. They can do nothing when facing you. They can do whatever they want to me. Even if they break my hands, even if they do whatever they want to me, even if my flesh and my bones stick to my skin, I will not pull back a single centimete," said Lal-Mohammadi in August.