[The following is the translation of a statement issued on Thursday 14th May by the Free Union of Iranian Workers]:

So far none of those arrested at Laleh Park rally, who are being held in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, has been able to meet their families or even contact them by phone. Those detained are said to be in the custody of the Intelligence Ministry and subjected to lengthy interrogations and all kinds of pressures. On Wednesday, the mother of one of those arrested, who lives in Esfahan’s Zarrin Shahr district, said that after 12 days and much searching she had found out that her son Hamid Malak Zadeh, who was a student in Tehran, had been arrested on May Day at Laleh Park. She said no-one was giving her any straight answers.

Following pressures and persistence by the families of the detainees, on the evening of Wednesday 13th May five of the women arrested at Laleh Park, namely Fatemeh Eghdami, Fatemeh Shah-Nazari, Sharifeh Mohammadi, Nasrin Rajavi and Somayyeh Navvab, were released on bail. The families of the detainees also last Tuesday and Wednesday wrote letters to human rights organisations to ask for their support to get their loved ones freed.

The gathering of the families of those detained in front of the Revolutionary Court is continuing and will resume from the beginning of next week [Friday is weekend in Iran – Tr].

Free Union of Iranian Workers
[Ettehadiy e Azad e Kargaran e Iran]

14 May 2009