Golrokh Irayi: Our Children Standing Alone at the Gallows is Due to Our Own Inaction

Political prisoner Golrokh Irayi, in reaction to executions, said: Our children standing alone at the gallows is due to our own inaction; we must reclaim the streets.

Golrokh Irayi, a political prisoner held in Evin Prison, released a message from prison in reaction to the possibility of execution of Khosrow Besharat and Kamran Sheikheh, prisoners of conscience, writing: “Our children standing alone at the gallows is not only because of repression, but partly due to our own passivity and inaction. We must reclaim the streets that have been taken from us through a thousand tricks.”

Ms. Irayi also participated last year in protest against the execution of those accused in the case known as the “Isfahan House” through sit-ins by many prisoners including Narges Mohammadi, Sepideh Qolian, Faezeh Hashemi, Nasrin Khoshrou and many political and ideological prisoners, and in protest of the execution of innocent youth said: “Our silence is confirmation of the dishonor of those who ordered and carried out these crimes and our complicity in the construction of the gallows. The only way to resist is on the street, which each time, although a step forward, remained unsuccessful due to baton strikes, bullets, intimidation and lack of organization of protests. Neither on our cars nor on the balconies of our homes in the darkness of night, nor with hashtags and statements and repeated condemnations. Specifically on the streets, I was not among those hiding behind masks. To reclaim our rights and to save the lives of dozens who will be hanged with tomorrow’s dawn and the days to come. Our silence is confirmation of the dishonor of those who ordered and carried out this crime and is equivalent to support for their international allies who have preferred the interests of diplomatic relations to the closure of their embassies.”