Iran union leader's story of torture prompts investigation
Iranian authorities have promised to probe torture claims by a union leader who was detained following worker protests at a crisis-hit factory.
"Two months on, I still feel the pain in my ribs, kidneys, testicles and my left ear … but even worse was the mental torture … I was humiliated and morphed into another person. Even neuro pills do not work anymore and I keep suffering from severe seizures," wrote activist Esmail Bakhshi on his Instagram account. Bakhshi was a union leader and worker at a sugarcane factory in Iran's southwestern town of Shush, which was rocked with protests and strikes last year in response to months of delayed wages.
He was released from detention Dec. 12, after being held for several weeks on national security charges. In the same Instagram post, Bakhshi complained that intelligence officers wiretapped his phone long before he was arrested, listening in on private conversations between him and his wife.
