Once again, Parvaneh Osanlu is behind the operations room, this time for her son. While ‎the son was unconscious, “I went to court. They asked me to bring a pay stub so that ‎they would release Mr. Osanlu.” ‎

She could hardly compose herself; worried about both her son in the operation room and ‎the courthouse that was supposed to release her husband. “When I got there one of Mr. ‎Osanlu’s colleagues was also there. He had brought a pay stub and a 500 million Rial ‎bail (about $57,000). When the administrative paperwork was completed, I asked, ‘So ‎Mr. Osanlu is getting released?’ To my dismay I heard this: ‘No, this bail was not for the ‎latest case. Not for his current jail term!”‎

Mrs. Osanlu says this to Rooz, adding, “The authorities have created several cases for ‎him (her husband). The five-year sentence that they have issued is only for one of the ‎cases. I have had to put down another 300 million Rials in bail for another case that he ‎has. We then provided the bail for another case, and we just deposited 500 million Rials ‎today… I really don’t know what to say.” ‎

‎“Now, he has to spend 5 years in prison, for no reason. The lower court issued the ‎sentence, sent the case to the appeals court itself and got the sentence approved.” ‎

I asked Mrs. Osanlu if she planned to appeal the judgment. Her calm voice changed, “Of ‎course we will protest. We have grievances. Why should a person who fights for his ‎rights be in prison? He has been beaten, his eye has been injured, he has been kept away ‎from his family, he has many health problems… Why shouldn’t we protest? His lawyers ‎have to go to the Supreme Court to protest. I don’t know about these things, but they will ‎definitely file for an appeal.” ‎

All this while, according to Mrs. Osanlu, “Mr. Osanlu needs post-surgery care. They ‎have returned him to prison following his eye operation. But he needs to be under ‎supervision for 6 weeks to three months. They take him back and forth from prison. ‎Tomorrow they will bring him back.” ‎

This woman is so busy: “Busy, busy. I have come and gone so many times, written so ‎many letters, but they do not care. What crime has he (Mr. Osanlu) committed other than ‎defending his union rights?” ‎

I remind her that the International Labor Federation has protested the sentencing as well. ‎She says, “Well, they (i.e. Iranian officials) don’t care …. ” – and the phone connection is ‎cut off. ‎

Perhaps her son has regained consciousness and she has dropped the phone in excitement. ‎But, both inside and outside Iran, people keep on protesting the prison sentences issued ‎for Mansour Osanlu and his colleague, Ebrahim Maddadi. The International Bus-‎Drivers’ Union has announced that it will organize a new wave of protests. ‎

Parvaneh Osanlu keeps on writing her letters, and goes back and forth from her work to ‎court, and then to prison. She is busy – very, very busy.‎