Mansour Osanlou

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Mansour Osanlou

Mansour Osanlou is head of the executive committee of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (SWTBC), the transport workers' trade union in Tehran in Iran. He is in custody as of November 19, 2006.

In December 2005 bus drivers in Tehran were refusing to take passengers' fares, as a protest called by both Osanlou and the SWTBC. This led to the arrest of several union activists on December 22, including Osanlou.

Tehran bus workers were due to strike on 28 January 2006 calling for his release and other demands. However early in the morning of that day hundreds of union activists were arrested.

The Scottish Socialist Party tabled a motion calling for his release before the Scottish Parliament. He was released on bail in July/August 2006 after being kept in solitary confinement for months.

According to eyewitness accounts, Osanlou was arrested for a second time on November 19, 2006 under very suspicious circumstances, along with Ibrahim Madadi, the vice-president of Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (SWTSBC). Osanlou and Madadi were beaten by a group of armed militia and were taken away after shots were fired into the air. This seems to be another case where special police and state-sponsored undercover security named Ansar-e Hezbollah are used in arresting and silencing social and political activists.